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II 1 1   li  Hill  Mill  m  mj"  •;"'  •''''  p.  •."  o 

G  000  084  121  3 


i 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 


By  the  same  Author 

Memories  of  Forty 
Years 

The     Royal     Marriage 
Market  of  Europe 

Sovereigns  and  States- 
men of  Europe 


The  Austrian  Court 
from  Within 


By 


Princess  Catherine  Radziwill 

(Catherine  Kolb-Danvin) 


With  Eight  Photogravure  Illustrations 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


PREFACE 

BEFORE  sending  this  little  book  into  the  world,  I 
would  like  to  warn  any  readers  which  it  may  find 
that  the  facts  related  in  it  are  published  by  me  in  full 
consciousness  that  some  eventual  importance  may  come 
to  be  attached  to  them. 

We  are  fighting  an  enemy  who  ignores  the  most 
elementary  moral  principles,  and  I  do  think  it  is  the 
duty  of  everyone  to  try  to  unmask  that  enemy,  to 
cry  out  to  the  civilised  world  to  beware  of  him.  The 
present  work  is  the  result  of  a  careful  study  of  German 
politics  for  a  period  stretching  over  something  like  forty 
years  :  a  study  which  has  convinced  me  that  Austria  all 
through  that  time  has  been  but  a  pawn  in  the  hands  of 
her  powerful  neighbour,  and  that  she  is  bound  in  the 
end  to  become  absorbed  in  Germany. 

I  have,  therefore,  attempted  to  depict  a  country,  a 
Court  and  a  society  already  in  the  last  stages  of  decay.  I 
will  not  pretend  that  in  doing  so  I  have  been  looking 
only  for  the  best  characteristics  they  may  happen  to 
possess.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  tried  also  to  unmask 
the  hypocrisy  which  has  always  lain  at  the  bottom  of 
Austrian  policy ;  to  point  out  the  bigoted  egotism  of 
Austria's  higher  classes ;    to  draw  my  readers'  notice  to 


212354 


Preface 

the  selfishness,  aggravated  by  vanity,  which  from  time 
immemorial  has  characterised  the  dynasty  and  the  House 
of  Habsburg. 

I  feel  obliged  to  make  this  confession,  and  also  to  add 
that  I  am  indebted  to  my  own  observations,  and  to  the 
correspondence  which  at  different  times  I  have  exchanged 
with  several  leading  political  men  in  Europe,  for  the  facts 
that  I  have  here  sought  to  fit  one  with  the  other  so  as 
to  produce  a  whole  out  of  which  I  draw  my  own  conclu- 
sions. Of  course,  there  may  be  inaccuracies,  but  I  have 
tried  only  to  mention  things  which  I  either  knew  for  fact, 
or  at  least  had  heard  from  people  upon  whose  veracity  I 

could  rely. 

C.  R. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

1.  Francis  Joseph,  as  Archduke  and  Emperor        .         1 


2.  The  Empress  Elisabeth       .... 
S.  The  Imperial  Family  ..... 

4.  The  Affairs  of  Francis  Ferdinand    . 

5.  The  Personal  Friends  of  Francis  Joseph 

6.  Frau    Catherine    Schratt    and    the    Emperor's 

Friendships      ...... 

7.  The  Mayerling  Tragedy     .... 

8.  Among  Society  in  Vienna   .... 

9.  Hungary,  its  Political  Men  and  Social  Life 

10.  Among  the  Poles  and  Czechs      .         . 

11.  The  Last  Love  Affair  of  the  Habsburgs  . 

12.  The  Austrian  Clergy  .... 

13.  Leaders  of  Militarism  and  Diplomacy 

14.  The  Great  Disillusion  of  the  Future 

15.  A  Bird's-eye  View       .... 


82 

48 
72 
87 

102 
116 
131 
145 
159 
173 
188 
201 
212 
221 


Index 227 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Emperor  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria 
Empress  Elisabeth  of  Austria 

Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  and  the  Duchess  of 
Hohenberg 

Frau  Catherine  Schratt  . 

The  Crown  Prince  Rudolph 

Baroness  Marie  Vetsera  . 

Archduke  Karl  Franz  Joseph 

Archduchess  Zita 


Frontispiece 

i»  ACINO   PACK 

34 


60 
108 
118 
128 
162 
212 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

CHAPTER   I 

FRANCIS   JOSEPH,    AS    ARCHDUKE   AND   EMPEROR 

THE  great  wave  of  revolution  which  swept  over  nearly 
the  whole  of  Europe  in  1848  did  not  spare  Austria. 
Germany  was  in  a  blaze  of  fiery  agitation,  too.  It 
seemed  as  if  it  were  inevitable  that  the  two  ancient 
dynasties  of  Habsburg  and  Hohenzollern  were  both  des- 
tined to  immediate  exile ;  from  which  there  would  be  no 
prospect  of  return. 

At  Vienna  the  danger  seemed  to  be  more  intense  than 
anywhere  else.  The  upper  classes  and  the  higher  spheres 
of  the  aristocracy,  indeed,  were  fully  persuaded  that  not 
only  were  their  possessions  and  privileges  in  imminent 
danger,  but  that  their  very  existences  were  in  peril. 
Prince  von  Metternich  himself — that  Nestor  among 
statesmen  whom  the  world,  in  common  with  himself, 
believed  to  be  so  firmly  established  in  the  confidence  of 
the  people  as  leader  of  Austrian  policy,  that  death  alone 
could  rob  him  of  office — found  himself  compelled  to  seek 
refuge  abroad.  The  tide  of  rebellion  rolled  strong  and 
swift  over  those  of  high  estate  in  Austria. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  explain  the  seething  discontent 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

that  reigned.  The  Sovereign  had  lost  the  sympathy  and 
the  respect  of  his  subjects  by  his  manner  of  Hfe.  There 
was,  indeed,  nothing  in  his  personaUty,  attainments  or 
behaviour  which  could  claim  either  allegiance  or  affection 
from  his  subjects. 

The  Emperor  Ferdinand  I.  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Francis  II.,  that  Emperor  who  had  not  hesitated,  for 
political  gain,  to  hand  over  his  daughter  to  the  mercies 
of  the  man  whom  he  considered  as  a  mere  "  Corsican 
adventurer."  Ferdinand  himself  was  imperceptive,  obsti- 
nate and  bigoted  in  his  usual  attitude  toward  life.  So 
strongly,  indeed,  were  these  characteristics  displayed  that 
even  his  most  devoted  adherents  were  forced  to  acknow- 
ledge that  his  presence  at  the  head  of  the  Government 
was  a  peril  for  his  dynasty  as  well  as  for  his  country.  He 
belonged  to  the  ranks  of  those  who  forget  that  they  have 
obligations  and  duties,  but  who  never  fail  to  remember 
that  they  are  in  possession  of  special  privileges  which 
raise  them  above  common  mortals. 

The  Emperor  Ferdinand  married  a  woman  renowned 
for  her  loveliness,  the  Princess  Marie  Anne  of  Savoy.  At 
this  date,  of  course,  he  was  still  the  Archduke.  His 
Archduchess  found  her  life  so  very  different  from  her 
legitimate  expectations  that  before  she  became  Empress 
she  lived  her  days  as  a  nun.  When  Ferdinand  came  to 
the  throne  the  Empress  Marie  retained  her  austere  views, 
and,  greatly  to  the  distress  of  her  Court  and  the  chagrin 
of  Austrian  Society,  she  tabooed  low-cut  dresses  at  the 
receptions  which,  occasionally,  she  was  compelled  to  give. 

2 


Should  Ferdinand  Abdicate  ? 

In  one  thing,  it  must  be  remembered,  both  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  were  hke-minded :  they  were 
devout  to  a  degree.  In  another  aspect,  indeed,  they  were 
also  well-matched  :  they  were  both  negligible  quantities 
so  far  as  real  administrative  work  was  concerned.  Metter- 
nich  held  in  his  hands  the  reins  of  the  Empire,  and  the 
Emperor  was  only  too  glad.  This  state  of  things  suited 
Metternich  very  well  indeed,  for  that  clever,  domineering 
politician  would  not  have  cared  to  have  as  his  master  a 
man  who  insisted  upon  his  personal  opinions  being  taken 
into  account. 

When  the  revolution  broke  out  and  threatened 
Vienna,  the  politicians  who  aided  Metternich  in  ruling 
the  State  were  obliged  to  realise  that  it  had  become 
impossible  to  keep  on  the  throne  a  Sovereign  who  could 
hardly  sign  his  name  to  documents  put  before  him  and 
who  had  but  a  dim  understanding  of  the  duties  of  a 
monarch.  The  difficult  thing,  however,  was  to  persuade 
Ferdinand  that  it  was  for  the  good  of  his  country  that 
he  should  abdicate.  He  shared  with  other  individuals 
who  have  crossed  the  pages  of  history  by  way  of  the 
Habsburg  throne,  an  exalted  idea  of  his  own  fitness  for 
the  Imperial  mantle,  and  his  attitude  to  those  around 
him — who,  whatever  their  status,  he  considered  were 
inferior  beings — was  that  of  a  despot  with  the  instincts 
of  a  tyrant.  In  regard  to  his  own  family  he  was  imperious 
and  impatient,  brooking  no  challenge  to  his  decisions  and 
no  difference  from  his  opinions.  Yet,  with  it  all,  Ferdi- 
nand was  not  a  bad  man  so  far  as  his  private  life  was 

3 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

concerned.  He  had  no  desires,  no  aspirations  beyond 
eating  a  good  dinner,  or  going  to  church,  or  participating 
in  some  reUgious  function,  while  he  found  perennial 
enjoyment  in  feeding  one  or  other  of  the  many  monkeys 
he  kept  about  him.  Had  Ferdinand  been  a  common 
mortal  he  would  have  been  considered  a  bore,  with  some 
suspicion  as  to  his  mental  fitness. 

When  the  question  of  abdication  became  more  insis- 
tent, considerations  arose  as  to  upon  whom  the  crown 
would  devolve.  Ferdinand's  next  brother,  the  Archduke 
Francis  Charles,  had  made  himself  unpopular  by  a  sus- 
picion of  being  implicated  in  reactionary  propaganda. 
He  was  accused,  indeed,  of  being  the  instigator  of  the 
indignation  against  the  Austrian  Government  which  lay 
at  the  root  of  the  turbulence  of  those  troubled  times. 

How  far  true  in  reality  was  the  belief  held  by  those 
in  power  never  became  known,  but  the  shadow  remained 
upon  the  name  of  Francis  Charles.  Had  circumstances 
been  different  in  regard  to  his  political  activities  he 
would  hardly  have  been  chosen  to  succeed  his  brother, 
because  he,  too,  had  those  unmistakable  traits  of 
degeneracy  which  mark  the  Habsburgs,  and  is  the  out- 
come of  intermarriage  with  their  own  line.  It  would 
be  unfair  to  speak  of  their  idiosyncrasies  in  any  stronger 
way  than  to  utter  the  remark  that  these  men  were  not 
well  balanced,  and  were  liable  at  any  moment  to  indulge 
in  extravagance  or  break  into  some  form  of  dangerous 
originality.  No  doubt  nmch  of  this  defect  could  have 
been  eradicated  by  judicious  education,  but  this,  instead. 


Empress  Marie  Anne 

proceeded  upon  lines  which  failed  to  correct  their  natural 
deficiencies  or  to  temper  their  extravagances  of  thought ; 
rather,  it  increased  their  sense  of  self-importance  and 
inculcated  the  certainty  that  in  brain  power  they  were 
infinitely  superior  to  the  rest  of  mankind. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was  doubly  unfortunate 
that  the  Empress  Marie  Anne  was  a  woman  incapable  of 
arousing  in  her  husband  the  desire  to  do  something  toward 
the  progress  of  his  Empire.  She  neither  urged  him  to 
make  use  of  his  own  capabilities  nor  pointed  out  to  him 
that  the  wise  course  would  be  to  surround  himself  with 
Ministers  possessing  the  qualities  and  experience  which 
he  lacked.  She  was  lovely,  kind  and  meek,  but  with  no 
grain  of  enterprise  in  her  soul.  Marie  would  never  have 
dared  to  interfere,  even  for  the  best  of  reasons,  with  what 
did  not  immediately  concern  her.  History  says  that  she 
was  once  implored  by  the  mother  of  a  young  soldier  con- 
demned to  death  for  desertion  to  beg  Ferdinand  I.  for 
a  commutation  of  the  sentence.  The  only  reply  the 
Empress  made  to  the  agonised  mother  was  that  she  would 
try  her  best  should  the  Emperor  speak  to  her  on  the 
subject,  but  on  no  account  could  she  broach  the  matter 
to  him  unasked.  The  Empress  had  all  those  traits  which 
come  of  being  born  in  a  circle  where  there  are  always 
people  to  do  the  thinking  and  to  relieve  one  from  the 
necessity  of  attending  to  one's  wants.  She  firmly  believed 
that  the  only  duties  of  an  Empress  consisted  in  setting  a 
good  example  to  her  Court ;  of  wearing  the  Crown  jewels 
on  stated  occasions  ;  of  going  to  church  every  day — fasting 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

whenever  the  Church  required  her  to  do  so ;  and  ultimately 
to  retire  into  a  complete  retreat  from  the  world  when  she 
became  a  widow. 

The  sister-in-law  of  the  Empress,  Sophy  of  Bavaria, 
who  married  the  Archduke  Francis  Charles — the  second 
son  of  the  Emperor  Francis  II. — was  of  very  different 
calibre  from  the  Empress,  being  used  to  give  expression 
to  her  opinions  with  entire  freedom.  A  member  of  that 
gifted  race,  the  Wittelsbachs,  she  was  endowed  with  their 
high  inteUigence,  but  managed  to  evade  their  penchant 
for  extravagance  of  thought  and  manner.  She  was  clever 
to  a  remarkable  degree,  ambitious,  enterprising,  and  of 
a  dominating  temper.  She  was,  indeed,  quite  the  anti- 
type to  the  archduchesses  of  Austria.  Beautiful  and 
accomplished,  too,  she  easily  acquired  influence  over  all 
w^th  whom  she  came  into  contact,  and  was  always  able  to 
hold  her  own  with  people  cleverer  than  herself.  She  had 
all  the  dignity  of  her  unfortunate  aunt,  Marie  Antoinette, 
and  was  imbued  with  the  grand  manner  to  her  very  finger- 
tips. From  the  very  first  day  she  entered  into  the  intimate 
family  circle  of  Imperial  Habsburg  she  was  a  power  in  it, 
and  was  listened  to  with  far  more  deference  than  the 
Emperor  himself.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  though  Ferdinand 
was  feared,  he  was  neither  liked  nor  considered  among 
his  immediate  kindred. 

One  of  the  early  determinations  of  the  Archduchess 
Sophy  was  that  when  she  became  Empress  she  would 
sweep  away  the  old  regime  at  the  Hofburg,  where  con- 
tact  with   the   outside   world   was   prohibited,    and   the 


Archduke  Francis  Charles 

domestic  and  Court  life  so  hedged  round  with  archaic 
customs  and  ceremonies  that  existence  became  unbearable 
to  anyone  possessing  originality  of  thought.  With  this 
intention  firmly  fixed  in  her  mind  Sophy  gathered  around 
her  men  and  women  who  held  other  claims  to  notice  than 
high  birth,  a  procedure  which  aroused  bitter  animosity 
among  the  courtiers  as  well  as  among  her  immediate 
relatives.  Of  this,  however,  Sophy  was  disdainful,  though 
she  curbed  her  feehngs  in  the  face  of  opposition.  She 
was  by  temperament  an  opportunist,  determined  in  the 
end  to  secure  her  own  way,  but  wise  enough,  or  unscru- 
pulous enough,  to  dissemble  for  the  time  being ;  she 
understood,  in  short,  the  art  of  diplomacy  in  its  more 
delicate  phases. 

The  Archduke  Francis  Charles  was  fortunate  in  his 
choice  of  a  wife.  Her  domestic  and  family  life  was  wise 
and  womanly.  The  four  sons  which  came  of  the  marriage 
were  brought  up  with  care  and  foresight  and  a  wise 
restriction  rarely  met  with  in  royal  families.  Some  there 
were  who  said  that  the  Archduchess  had  realised  that 
when  her  husband  came  to  the  throne  he  would  not, 
without  a  terrible  struggle,  allow  her  to  exercise  power. 
Therefore,  she  was  training  her  sons  so  that,  when  the 
turn  of  one  of  them  came  to  reign,  he  would  recognise 
her  political  and  diplomatic  wisdom,  and  be  content  to 
let  her  be  the  real  ruler.  Be  that  as  it  ma}^  it  is  certain 
that  Sophy  had  been  the  dominant  partner  all  through 
their   married   life.     It   was   equally    certain,    too,    that 

Francis  had  chafed  exceedingly  under  the  imperious  will 

7 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

of  his  Archduchess.  Like  all  weak  temperaments,  he 
would  be  certain  to  take  the  first  opportunity  of  his  new 
power  as  Emperor  to  avenge  himself  for  the  state  of 
servitude  in  which  she  had  managed  to  keep  him.  The 
Archduchess  knew  quite  well  that  though  her  career  as 
Empress  would  be  brilliant,  from  the  moment  she  entered 
the  ancient  walls  of  the  Vienna  Hofburg  as  a  bride  she 
would  not  be  permitted  to  do  as  she  liked  to  the  extent 
she  had  been  accustomed. 

In  the  meantime  the  Archduchess  Sophy  was  content 
to  watch  the  unfolding  of  events  and  to  observe  the 
motives  and  aims  of  the  political  agitations  which  were 
beginning  to  trouble  the  serenity  of  Europe.  She  was 
in  constant  correspondence  with  her  sisters,  the  future 
Queens  of  Prussia  and  of  Saxony,  thereby  remaining 
familiar  with  all  that  went  on  at  these  two  Courts  as  well 
as  at  Munich.  What  she  observed  as  to  the  trend  of 
affairs,  from  her  knowledge  of  current  events  and  her 
conclusions  based  upon  what  happened,  led  her  to  deter- 
mine to  train  her  boys  in  a  way  entirely  different  from 
the  lines  hitherto  adopted  in  regard  to  young  archdukes. 
Usually  they  were  educated  to  be  keenly  alive  to  their 
own  importance,  but  at  the  same  time  denied  any- 
thing approaching  to  serious  education  fitting  them  to 
take  up  their  part  in  life  with  real  earnestness  and 
discernment. 

The  Archduchess  reversed  this  order,  and  succeeded 
admirably  in  her  plans,  particularly  with  her  son  Maxi- 
milian,  who  was  afterwards  to  perish  so  miserably  at 

8 


Francis  Joseph  as  Archduke 

Mexico.  Her  eldest  son,  Francis  Joseph,  also  showed 
the  benefit  of  the  training  his  mother  enforced,  though 
in  his  case  his  grip  of  matters  was  more  superficial ;  still, 
to  those  who  judged  from  outward  appearances,  he  was 
so  different  from  his  cousins  that  he  was  certain  to  become 
a  popular  monarch  when  the  time  arrived  for  him  to  rule 
the  Empire  of  the  Habsburgs. 

The  manner  in  which  young  Francis  Joseph  was 
received  by  the  people  was  a  source  of  much  joy  to  the 
Archduchess  Sophy.  He  was  her  favourite  son,  and, 
more  than  that,  in  him  she  saw  her  future  assured.  It 
is  said  that  a  considerable  factor  in  the  depth  of  her 
affection  was  that  Francis  Joseph  resembled  another 
prince  to  whom  Sophy  had  been  warmly  attached  in  her 
youth.  The  young  nobleman  for  whom  she  had  nursed 
a  romantic  affection  was  the  Duke  of  Reichstadt,  that 
unfortunate  man  whom  sad  destiny  wrenched  from  the 
splendours  of  the  Tuileries  and  thrust  into  the  semi- 
imprisonment  he  so  long  endured  at  Schonbrunn.  This 
luckless  son  of  the  greatest  man  of  modern  times  had 
found  in  the  Archduchess  Sophy  a  kind  and  attentive 
friend,  one  who  had  never  failed  him  in  time  of  need, 
and  who  had  done  all  she  could  to  bring  joy  into  his 
miserable  life.  When  he  died  the  young  Archduchess 
Sophy  shed  for  him  more  tears  than  even  his  mother — 
whom,  history  records,  callously  left  him  to  his  fate  when 
misfortune  overcame  him.  Later  on  it  pleased  the  Arch- 
duchess to  find  some  resemblance  between  the  object  of 

her  former  tenderness  and  the  son  for  whom  she  nursed 

9 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

so  many  dreams  of  ambition,  dreams  in  which,  in  truth, 
she  played  a  leading  part  herself. 

When  the  Archduchess  Sophy  found  her  young  son 
Francis  was  not  so  pliable  as  she  imagined  he  would  be, 
her  love  for  him  underwent  some  change ;  she  managed, 
nevertheless,  to  retain  a  very  considerable  influence  over 
him  in  regard  to  political  matters,  upon  which  he  con- 
stantly sought  her  advice  and  acted  upon  it.  In  the  more 
intimate  domain  of  the  private  domesticities  of  the  royal 
household  the  strong  personality  of  the  Archduchess 
Sophy  maintained  its  dominance,  and  the  manner  in 
which  she  exercised  her  power  at  Court  and  in  the  inner 
life  at  the  Hofburg  made  life  very  hard  indeed  for 
the  exquisitely  beautiful  bride  whom  Francis  Joseph 
wedded. 

As  Francis  Joseph  approached  his  later  'teens  it 
became  evident  to  even  the  strongest  partisans  of  the 
House  of  Habsburg  that  its  tenure  of  the  throne  was 
really  in  peril.  Discontent  was  on  every  hand,  and  it 
seemed  inevitable  that  the  House  would  lose  its  kingdom 
if  the  Sovereign  were  allowed  to  continue  his  erratic  rule. 
Nor  was  it  likely  that  the  people  would  look  with  favour 
upon  the  direct  successor,  the  Archduke  Francis  Charles, 
the  father  of  Francis  Joseph  and  the  brother  of  Fer- 
dinand I.  The  only  hope  lay  in  the  abdication  of  the 
one,  and  the  renunciation  of  the  right  of  succession  on 
the  part  of  the  other  in  favour  of  his  son  Francis  Joseph, 
then  a  young  man  of  considerable  promise.  Un- 
doubtedly, from  the  point  of  view  of  the  nation's  best 

10 


Princess  Schwarzenberg  of  Liechtenstein 

interests  this  was  quite  the  best  thing  to  do,  but  everyone 
felt  that  it  would  take  a  very  great  deal  of  diplomatic 
persuasion  to  induce  the  Archduchess  Sophy  to  consent  to 
being  deprived  of  the  pride  and  glory  of  wearing  the 
diadem  of  an  Empress.  Curiously,  the  feelings  and 
claims  of  the  two  men  most  interested  were  not  looked 
upon  as  factors  of  any  importance  in  the  affair ;  what  they 
thought  or  wanted  mattered  but  little;  they  were 
negligible  factors. 

Even  in  favour  of  her  own  son,  it  was  beyond  expec- 
tation that  the  Archduchess  Sophy  would  quietly  and 
wiUingly  forgo  her  legitimate  ambition.  Especially  was 
this  felt  when  it  was  remembered  that  her  personal  con- 
cerns were  always  accorded  first  place  in  her  plans. 

At  this  difficult  juncture  a  lady  well  known  in 
Viennese  society,  the  Princess  Schwarzenberg,  became 
the  deus  ex  macJiiria  of  an  intrigue  which  successfully 
resolved  the  difficulty  in  a  manner  congenial  to  all  con- 
cerned, and  caused  the  Archduchess  Sophy  herself  to 
propose  the  alternative  which  all  had  feared  to  place 
before  her. 

By  birth  the  Princess  Schwarzenberg  was  a  Princess 

of  Liechtenstein,  and  among  her  friends  in  Society  was 

known  as  Princess  Lory.     She  was  one  of  those  women 

who  make  an  impression  in  whatever  kind  of  environment 

they  may  be  thrust.     She  was  beautiful,  and  loved  to  see 

that  her  charms  called  forth  admiration.      She  was  fond 

of  the  good  things  of  life,  and,  needless  to  relate,  was 

the  object  of  all  sorts  of  stories  as  to  the  genial  frailties 

11 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

she  was  supposed  to  possess.  She  exercised  an  undis- 
puted sway  over  Society  in  Vienna  until  the  day  of  her 
death. 

At  the  time  when  the  Princess  made  her  influence 
felt  in  connection  with  the  matter  of  the  Habsburg  suc- 
cession, she  was  the  object  of  the  adoring  passion  of 
Count  William  von  Montenuovo.  This  dashing  noble, 
like  the  Princess,  was  one  of  the  idols  of  Society,  who 
made  much  of  him  because  of  the  valiant  deeds  he  had 
performed.  He  was  the  only  son  of  the  morganatic  mar- 
riage of  the  Empress  Marie  Louise,  the  widow  of  the 
great  Napoleon,  with  Count  Neipperg. 

During  the  Italian  war  of  1848  Count  William  had 
accomphshed  many  heroic  deeds  and  had  displayed  such 
skill  in  leadership  that  he  was  promoted  to  be  Colonel 
when  he  was  only  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  His  other 
promotions  and  various  honourable  decorations  were  also 
won  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  Few  men  were  so  popular 
as  he  in  Vienna  Society  and  in  Court  circles,  for  in  addi- 
tion to  his  personal  qualities  and  attractions,  the  fact  that 
he  was  the  son  of  an  Archduchess  procured  for  him  an 
exceptional  position.  With  the  young  Archduke  Francis 
Joseph  he  was  a  favourite  companion,  the  Emperor  him- 
self liked  to  have  him  in  his  entourage,  while  the  proud 
and  haughty  Archduchess  visibly  unbent  whenever  he  was 
near.  She  had  been  fond  of  him  from  the  day  he  had 
come  to  the  Court  with  a  letter  from  Marie  Louise, 
begging  Sophy  to  extend  to  the  son  of  her  second  mar- 
riage the  same  kindliness  and  courtesy  she  had  given  to 

12 


Who  Engineered  the  Abdication? 

her    only    son    by    the    first    marriage,    the    Duke    of 
Reichstadt. 

The  Princess  Lory  was  a  keen  judge  of  human  nature, 
and  it  did  not  take  her  long  to  enlist  the  entire  allegiance 
of  her  admirer,  von  Montenuovo,  to  the  scheme  which 
she  propounded  into  his  willing  ear.  Gossip  said  with 
emphasis  and  delight  that  the  Princess  embarked  upon 
her  adventure  largely  because  it  afforded  her  an  oppor- 
tunity to  repay  a  grudge  she  nourished  against  the 
Empress  Marie  Anne,  who  had  expressed  herself  with 
more  freedom  than  discretion  respecting  the  sprightly 
ways  of  the  Princess.  The  Empress,  indeed,  used  a  much 
stronger  term,  for  which  the  Princess  had  never  forgiven 
her. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  circumstances  played  to- 
gether, and  the  outcome  was  that  the  Princess  recognised 
that  the  situation  between  the  Royal  House  and  the 
country  provided  a  ready  means  of  revenge  for  an  old- 
standing  slight.  Her  knowledge  of  her  own  sex  enabled 
her  to  understand  how  to  appeal  to  the  Archduchess 
Sophy.  She  wanted  her  to  view  the  facts  in  such  a  light 
that  it  would  appear  to  her  best  interests,  as  well  as  to  the 
future  welfare  of  the  Habsburgs,  that  Ferdinand  should 
be  dispossessed.  And  not  only  that :  Sophy's  own  hus- 
band, too,  would  have  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  future 
welfare  of  the  House,  though  she  herself  need  not  be  a 
sufferer;  it  would  be  her  lot,  rather,  to  reign  in  reality 
through  the  nominal  headship  of  her  son. 

In  following  out  this  plan  the  Princess  was  too  wise 

13 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

to  make  her  advances  in  person.  She  did  so  through  the 
Count  von  Montenuovo.  He,  already,  was  assured  of  a 
favourable  hearing  to  anything  he  might  say,  and  the 
proposals,  therefore,  had  better  chance  of  success. 

So  strongly  did  the  Count  put  the  case  from  the 
tutoring  he  had  received  from  the  Princess,  that  the  Arch- 
duchess became  persuaded  that  the  whole  fate  of  the 
Habsburg  dynasty  depended  upon  Ferdinand  resigning 
the  Crown  into  hands  better  able  than  he  to  carry  with 
dignity,  respect  and  efficiency  the  weight  of  responsibility 
in  the  momentous  times  which  the  Empire  was  passing 
through.  This  thoroughly  frightened  the  Archduchess, 
whose  love  for  her  son  would  not  allow  his  ultimate  suc- 
cession to  be  endangered,  and  she  agreed  to  persuade  her 
husband  to  look  at  matters  from  the  same  aspect. 

That  point  being  settled,  the  Archduchess  Sophy  was 
then  introduced  to  the  fact  that  her  husband  was  also 
considered  incompetent  to  occupy  the  throne.  Imping- 
ing as  it  did  upon  her  own  prospect  of  becoming  Empress, 
it  required  considerable  tact  and  persuasion  for  the  Count 
von  Montenuovo  to  force  home  to  the  Archduchess  the 
hopelessness  of  the  future  for  the  Habsburgs  under  any 
other  condition  than  that  the  power  should  pass  into  the 
hands  of  her  son,  Francis  Joseph.  At  last,  however,  the 
Count  succeeded  in  the  task  the  Princess  had  set  him,  and 
this  made  things  much  easier.  For  one  thing,  as  soon  as 
there  was  no  likelihood  of  Archduchess  Sophy  becoming 
Empress,  the  Empress  Marie  Anne  was  willing  to  fall  in 

with  the  idea,  affording  her,  as  it  did,  an  opportunity  of 

14 


Francis  Joseph  becomes  Emperor 

embracing  more  completely  than  ever  the  ascetic  course 
of  life  she  preferred. 

When  the  Archduchess  went  to  her  husband  she  ex- 
perienced far  less  surprise  and  opposition  than  she 
expected.  Francis  did  not  find  it  a  hard  task  to  approach 
his  brother  Ferdinand,  and  point  out  that  unless  he 
abdicated  the  dynasty  would  be  in  jeopardy.  He,  too, 
had  not  needed  much  persuasion  to  renounce,  also,  his 
right  of  succession,  so  that  when  he  went  to  see  his  brother 
he  was  prepared  to  put  the  whole  proposition  before  him  : 
that  the  abdication  should  be  in  favour  of  Francis  Joseph. 
The  Empress  added  her  views  to  those  of  Francis  Charles, 
and  the  matter  was  speedily  settled. 

The  solemn  abdication  of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  I. 
took  place  with  great  pomp  on  the  2nd  of  December, 
1848,  after  which  he  retired  to  the  Palace  of  the  Hrad- 
schin  in  Prague,  where  he  ended  his  days  on  the  29th  of 
June,  1875,  twenty-seven  years  later.  The  Empress 
survived  him  a  few  years,  and  left  behind  her  a  memory 
more  marked  by  respect  than  regret. 

The  part  which  the  Count  von  Montenuovo  had  taken 
in  bringing  Francis  Joseph  to  the  throne  was  never  for- 
gotten by  the  Emperor,  who  showered  favours  upon  the 
Count  and  later  created  him  a  prince.  He  always  re- 
mained on  the  most  intimate  terms  with  the  Count,  and 
it  is  noteworthy  that  in  recent  j^ears  his  son,  Prince 
Montenuovo,  is  easily  the  most  influential  man  at  the 
Austrian  Court. 

When  Francis  Joseph  took  upon  his  shoulders  the 

15 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

Imperial  mantle,  he  was  a  young  man  of  eighteen  :  a 
handsome,  tall,  splendid  fellow,  full  of  life  and  activity 
and  desirous  of  distinguishing  himself  not  only  as  a 
Sovereign,  but  also  as  a  man ;  life  had  not  yet  soured  him, 
nor  sapped  away  his  principles.  To  anyone  seeing 
Francis  Joseph  for  the  first  time  he  created  a  distinctly 
favourable  impression ;  only  to  the  close  observer  did  the 
latent  cruelty  of  his  disposition  become  apparent,  and 
only  after  knowing  more  of  him  did  the  selfish  and  super- 
ficial traits  which  dominated  his  character  show  them- 
selves. He  was  an  example  of  Habsburg  degeneracy. 
Well  concealed  as  yet  but  nevertheless  present,  the 
inherent  defects  of  his  race  were  perpetuated  in  his 
person,  to  come  out  strongly  as  the  years  rolled  by. 

Francis  Joseph  had  been  brought  up  with  a  strict 
regard  to  the  outward  observances  of  the  State  religion, 
Roman  Catholicity,  and  was  supposed  to  be  very  religious. 
At  heart  he  was  no  believer  in  the  tenets  of  Mother 
Church  ;  indeed,  it  would  have  puzzled  him  to  explain  what 
they  were.  To  him  Catholicism  was  an  abstract  some- 
thing which  was  a  powerful  factor  in  keeping  his  House 
on  the  Throne ;  while  Church  attendance  was  but  a 
necessary  means  of  demonstrating  to  his  people  that  he 
adhered  to  the  traditions  of  his  forefathers.  The  matter 
appealed  to  his  sentiment  with  far  more  force  than  to 
his  reason. 

From  his  mother,  Francis  Joseph  had  inherited  an 

imperiousness  of  manner  and  character  which  was  often 

of  use  to  him  in  impressing  his  dignity  upon  the  people. 

16 


The  Hungarian  Rebellion 

He  had  not,  however,  been  endowed  with  her  active 
brain  and  inteUigent  mind.  Consequently,  all  through 
his  life  he  has  been  governed  by  prejudices  rather  than 
convictions.  His  private  hfe  has  been  unfettered  by  deep 
moral  qualities,  and  he  has  carried  that  same  feeling  into 
his  political  activities,  not  scrupling  to  break  his  word 
whenever  he  has  thought  it  of  advantage  to  do  so.  His 
reign  has  shown  this  more  than  once.  A  single  reference 
will  display  his  shortcomings  in  this  respect.  Take  the 
Hungarian  rebellion ;  it  clearly  demonstrated  to  all  who 
cared  to  make  a  study  of  his  character  and  of  his  actions 
during  that  period,  that  he  was  narrow-minded,  vindic- 
tive, hypocritical,  selfish  and  mean. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  reign  Francis  Joseph  did  not 
hesitate  to  invoke  the  aid  of  Russia  against  his  own  sub- 
jects. When  the  revolution  was  broken  the  Hungarians 
were  so  mistrustful  of  the  Austrian  Sovereign  and  his 
advisers  that  their  leader,  Georgey,  preferred  to  surrender 
to  the  Russians  than  to  the  officials  of  Austria.  And 
history  proved  the  Hungarians  right,  because  to  this  day 
the  terrible  reprisals  this  eighteen-year-old  Emperor 
ordered  remain  unforgotten.  Every  Hungarian  home- 
stead could  tell  how  entirely  hideous  were  the  things 
which  were  done.  Women,  young  and  old,  were  stripped 
of  their  garments  and  flogged  in  the  public  streets  of 
Budapest,  and  among  them  were  ladies  of  the  highest 
Hungarian  aristocracy. 

Another  incident  of  the  same  rebellion  should  be  re- 
told. Rather  than  hand  down  to  his  descendants  the  stain 
c  17 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

of  a  father  criminally  hanged,  Count  Louis  Batthyany 
poisoned  himself  on  the  eve  of  the  day  appointed  for  his 
execution.  It  is  related  that  the  Countess  Batthyany 
forced  an  entrance  into  the  chamber  of  the  Emperor,  and 
implored  him  on  her  knees  to  grant  her  husband's  hfe. 
He,  curtly  and  with  unnecessary  cruelty,  refused  to  do  so, 
and  when  he  heard  of  the  suicide  of  the  Count,  ordered 
his  lifeless  body  to  be  hung  from  the  gallows  which  would 
have  borne  him  had  he  lived  a  few  hours  longer.  The 
result  of  this  personal  action  of  the  Emperor  was  that  the 
Countess  made  her  son  swear  an  oath  never  to  condone 
his  father's  murder  and  never  to  accord  to  the  Monarch 
the  least  token  of  respect. 

When  the  Emperor  became  King  of  Hungary  he 
endeavoured  by  favours  and  honours  to  win  recognition 
from  the  Count,  but  the  son  of  Francis  Joseph's  victim 
refused  every  advance  and  every  offer  with  cold  and 
undisguised  contempt. 

When  the  Hungarian  rebellion  had  been  crushed,  the 
Emperor  Francis  Joseph  received  the  Russian  com- 
manders in  audience.  In  returning  to  their  own  country 
he  wished  them  to  carry  away  his  thanks  for  the  help  they 
had  given,  and  also  asked  them  to  convey  to  their 
Emperor  words  which,  since  that  day,  have  acquired  a 
sad  significance:  "Tell  your  Emperor,"  he  said,  "that 
he  has  in  me  a  son  who  will  always  be  ready  to  obey  any 
orders  that  he  may  care  to  give  him.  So  long  as  I  live  I 
will  remember  and  I  will  tell  my  children  to  remember 

when  I  am  no  more.    It  is  entirely  owing  to  the  generous 

18 


The  Emperor  and  Russia 

initiative  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  that  I  have  been  able 
to  retain  my  throne." 

To  these  beautiful  words  facts  were  soon  to  give  a 
terrible  denial.  It  is  to  be  wondered  if  the  aged  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph,  now  that  he  has  set  fire  to  the  conflagra- 
tion which  is  enveloping  Europe  in  its  devouring  flames, 
ever  thinks  of  that  episode,  ever  recalls  those  words.  It 
is  another  example  of  the  hypocritical  selfishness  of  his 
race  that  he  should  desire  above  all  things  that  the  result 
of  the  conflict  he  has  started  should  be  the  harming — the 
destruction  if  he  could  have  his  will — of  the  nation  which 
saved  his  throne  in  the  hour  of  his  distress. 

The  fact  that  the  Emperor  was  but  eighteen  at  the 

time  of  the  Hungarian  atrocities  saved  him  from  blame. 

Much,  indeed,  may  be  forgiven  a  youthful  monarch  on 

account  of  inexperience,  and  the  people  were  indulgent 

enough  to  throw  the  blame  for  his  crimes  on  to  the 

shoulders   of   his   advisers.     Even   then,    had   he   liked, 

Francis  Joseph  could  have  escaped  the  odium  which  w^as 

felt  in  the  heart  of  every  right-minded  man  at  the  terrible 

things  which  were  done  in  Hungary ;  but,  strange  as  it 

may  seem,  Francis  Joseph  did  not  care  in  the  least  to 

prove  himself  innocent  of  the  dark  deeds  that  had  sullied 

the  opening  days  of  his  reign.     Instead,  he  was  rather 

inclined  to  boast  of  what  he  called  his  firmness,  and  he 

wished  to  impress  upon  his  subjects  that  it  was  a  thing  to 

be  proud  of.     He  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  misery  of  his 

victims,  and  not  only  expected  his  subjects  to  do  the  same, 

but  also  to  greet  with  acclamation  and  pride  the  cruelties 

19 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

which  he  had  ordered  with  such  rehsh  and  had  had  per- 
formed with  such  indifference. 

His  subjects,  however,  were  not  so  dehghted  with  him 
as  in  his  vanity  and  selfishness  he  imagined  they  would 
be.  Discontent  increased  as  people  realised  that  the 
change  of  ruler  had  not  bettered  their  lot,  and  the  pity 
which  had  prevailed  at  one  so  young  being  called  upon  to 
rule  gave  way  to  bitterness. 

With  the  coming  to  the  throne  of  Francis  Joseph  the 
people  had  hoped  for  liberty  of  thought  and  action  such 
as  was  enjoyed  by  almost  every  nation  of  Europe.  In- 
stead, they  found  their  every  action  dogged  by  a  tyran- 
nical and  arbitrary  police  just  as  harshly  as  under  the  old 
regime,  while  any  opinions  expressed  were  stifled  by  the 
axe  of  the  executioner.  This  discontent  assumed  such 
proportions  that  one  afternoon,  as  Francis  Joseph  was 
taking  his  customary  walk  along  the  ramparts  which  at 
that  time  surrounded  the  city  of  Vienna,  a  young  man, 
who,  it  was  later  discovered,  had  been  waiting  several  days 
to  take  his  oppoi:unity,  stabbed  the  Emperor  in  the  neck. 
The  dagger  wound  was  so  serious  that  at  first  it  was 
thought  that  Francis  Joseph  would  die.  His  hour  of 
destiny  had  not  arrived,  though  he  remained  for  a  long 
time  disabled  as  a  result  of  the  wound,  and,  indeed,  lost 
the  use  of  his  sight  for  some  weeks. 

The  attempted  assassination  of  Francis  Joseph  swerved 
the  sentiments  of  the  Austrians  back  again  in  his  favour, 
and  the  people,  especially  in  Vienna,  gave  way  to  ex- 
plosions of  delight  when  it  was  at  last  announced  that  th 

20 


Attempted  Assassination  of  Francis  Joseph 

Emperor  was  on  the  high  road  to  recovery.  T'le  first 
time  he  appeared  once  more  in  public  he  was  received 
with  effusive  demonstrations  of  joy.  So  sincere  did  the 
ovation  seem  that  Francis  Joseph  became  convinced  that 
his  hfe  was  precious  to  his  subjects,  and  that  thereafter 
he  could  treat  them  with  even  less  ceremony  than  ever. 

This  complacency  was  not  shared  by  the  Archduchess 
Sophy,  who  had  been  seriously  alarmed  at  the  attempt  on 
her  son's  life.  She  was  discerning  enough  to  recognise 
that  the  affair  meant  more  than  the  courtiers  pretended 
to  believe.  It  meant  that  in  reality,  despite  the  surface 
manifestations,  the  early  popularity  of  Francis  Joseph  had 
disappeared,  and  that  many  had  realised  that  the  expecta- 
tions they  had  consequent  upon  the  change  of  ruler  would 
not  be  fulfilled.  Throughout  their  dominions  the  Habs- 
burgs  had  accumulated  so  much  hatred  that  it  was  indeed 
a  wonder  they  were  allowed  to  remain  on  the  throne. 
They  were  looked  upon  with  distrust  and  dislike  mingled 
with  active  suspicion,  and  altogether,  as  she,  the  only  one 
perhaps  of  that  House  with  the  desire  or  acumen  to  look 
ahead,  peered  into  the  future,  the  outlook  was  full  of  ugly 
omens  for  the  Royal  House. 

The  relations  of  the   Archduchess   Sophy   with  the 

Emperor  Francis  Joseph  were  no  longer  what  they  had 

been  in  the  past,  though  they  were  still  more  intimate 

than  they  had  ever  been  with  her  second  son,  Maximilian. 

Later  on  there  was  to  come  a  time  when  circumstances 

drew  the  Archduchess  and  Maximilian  into  closer  bonds 

than  with  Francis  Joseph,  and  she  was  to  stand  by  him 

21 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

in  open  defiance  of  the  Emperor.  But  as  yet  the 
Archduchess  Sophy  found  herself  isolated,  with  no  one 
of  her  own  family  to  whom  she  could  confide  her  fears  and 
anxieties  respecting  the  future  of  the  dynasty. 

About  this  time  it  was  the  hope  of  the  Archduchess 
that   the    Emperor    should    marry,    but    whenever    she 
broached  the  subject  to  him  Francis  Joseph  spurned  the 
idea  with  a  disdain  which  savoured  of  anger.     He  pre- 
ferred to  indulge  in  the  many  love  affairs  with  which  he 
was  successively  engaged  than  to  embarrass  himself  with  a 
Consort.    He  would  not  be  brought  to  a  consideration  of 
his  duty  toward  his  country  and  his  dynasty ;  it  amused 
him  and  pleased  his  vanity  to  see  the  fairest  women  in 
Vienna  eager  to  obtain  one  of  his  glances  and  always  ready 
to  cultivate  a  flirtation,  which  was  the  mild  word  Society 
applied  to  their  Emperor's  amorous  proclivities.    Love  in 
its  beautiful  sense  was  unknown  to  him.      He  was  un- 
doubtedly a  handsome  and  attractive  man  in  those  years ; 
and   apart  from   his  royal   estate   he   would   have   been 
called  an  unprincipled  Lovelace.    There  came  a  day,  how- 
ever, when  even  his  pursuit  of  love  palled,  and  he  tired  of 
his  everlasting  successes  among  the  wiUing  beauties  of  the 
city ;  his  vanity  had  allowed  him  to  see  that  the  flattering 
attentions  to  his  royal  person  were  not  disinterested,  as 
the  jewellers  of  Vienna  could  tell.    Before  he  had  reached 
his  twenty-third  year  he  was  so  thoroughly  blase  that  the 
fairest  women  failed  to  please  his  satiated  palate,  and  his 
thoughts  turned  to  the  pleasure  to  be  derived  from  secur- 
ing the  love  of  a  young  and  innocent  princess  who  would 

22 


A  Lover  who  Changed  his  Mind 

give  herself  to  him  without  even  a  passing  thought  of 
worldly  gain. 

The  Archduchess  was  pleasantly  surprised,  therefore, 
to  be  told  one  day  by  her  son  that  he  contemplated  falling 
in  with  her  wishes  in  regard  to  marriage.  She  speedily 
proposed  that  he  should  visit  his  cousins,  the  daughters 
of  the  Duchess  Louise  in  Bavaria,  of  whom  Helene  was 
then  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Royal  Princesses  of 
marriageable  age  in  Europe.  The  Archduchess  Sophy  had 
long  set  her  heart  on  the  marriage  of  these  two,  as  the 
girl  fulfilled  all  the  most  rigid  requirements  of  an  ideal 
Empress  of  the  House  of  Habsburg.  Francis  Joseph, 
being  so  enthusiastically  assured  of  her  rare  beauty,  was 
easily  persuaded  to  see  her,  and  a  meeting  was  arranged  at 
Ischl,  whither  the  Duchess  Louise  repaired  with  her  two 
daughters  in  the  month  of  July,  1853. 

A  romantic  tale  has  been  put  into  circulation  concern- 
ing the  completeness  with  which,  at  first  sight,  Francis 
Joseph  fell  in  love  with  Elisabeth,  Helene 's  sister.  The 
story  is  believed  in  right  unto  this  day  by  certain  persons 
well  able  to  know  what  really  were  the  facts  of  the  case. 
When  Francis  Joseph  approached  Helene  with  his  pro- 
posal of  marriage,  the  Princess  told  him  frankly  that  she 
was  quite  willing  to  unite  her  fate  with  his,  but  first  he 
would  have  to  assure  her  that  after  the  wedding  he  would 
no  longer  indulge  in  any  of  the  romantic  intrigues  to 
which  he  was  supposed  to  be  inclined.  The  Emperor  was 
aghast  at  the  audacity  of  the  girl,  and  at  once  turned  his 

back  upon  her,  and  more  to  pique  Helene  than  anything 

23 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

else,  began  a  violent  flirtation  with  the  schoolgirl  Elisa- 
beth. The  young  Princess  viewed  the  honeyed  words  of 
the  Emperor  as  serious  attentions,  and  forthwith  fell 
violently  in  love  with  him,  giving  him  a  young  heart's 
adoration.  In  truth,  the  whole  matter  was  settled  more 
out  of  vanity  on  both  sides  than  anything  else,  as  after 
events  go  far  to  prove. 

Whether  the  version  given  is  the  true  one  or  not  I 
have  no  means  of  telling,  but  the  fact  remains  that  this 
schoolgirl  in  short  frocks,  with  her  hair  flying  round  her 
shoulders,  became  betrothed  to  the  Austrian  monarch 
four  days  after  he  arrived  at  Ischl  to  ask  her  sister  to 
become  his  wife. 

The  Archduchess  Sophy  was  dumb  with  astonishment 
when  she  discovered  that  her  son  was  bringing  a  child  to 
Vienna  as  the  future  Empress,  but  resigned  herself  to  the 
fact  in  the  hope  that  this  inexperienced  girl  W'Ould  be 
content  to  remain  under  her  influence  and  supervision  in 
all  matters,  and  would  not  force  her  own  opinions  and 
will  either  in  the  Court  or  the  domestic  circle. 

As  for  the  Princess  Elisabeth,  later  on,  when  she  had 

realised   the   emptiness   of   all   her   fond   delusions,    she 

acknowledged  that  she  had  been  desperately  in  love  with 

this  cousin  who  had  appeared  like  a  Prince  Charming  of 

the  fairy  tale,  and  placed  at  her  feet  the  Imperial  Crown 

of  one  of  the  oldest  dynasties  in  Europe.     She  confessed 

to  being  dazzled  by  the  vision  of  pomp  and  the  brilliance 

of  the  prospect  thus  opened  up  before  her,  and  to  being 

so  overwhelmed  with  the  magnitude  of  the  future  that  she 

24 


The  Engagement 

thought  of  nothing  else  but  that  Hfe  would  continue  to  be 
the  beautiful  dream  it  had  appeared  to  be  at  that  moment 
when  her  schoolgirl's  fancy  was  captured  by  the  vision. 

Elisabeth  was  accomplished  and  beautiful.  She  was 
bright,  observant  and  quick  in  her  mind,  which  was  filled 
with  romance  and  idealism.  When  she  entered  the 
church  at  Ischl  on  the  day  following  her  betrothal,  she 
thanked  God,  as  she  leaned  on  the  arm  of  her  Knight, 
with  all  that  fervent  simplicity  which  was  one  of  her  most 
alluring  charms,  for  all  the  happiness  He  had  granted  her, 
and  for  the  Crown  which  was  to  be  hers.  Alas !  it  was  to 
become  a  crown  of  thorns  in  the  days  to  come.  The 
tragedy  of  that  alliance  was  that  Francis  Joseph  did  not 
realise  the  jewel  that  God  had  given  into  his  care.  Had 
he  understood  the  treasure  he  had  taken  to  his  heart  he 
would  have  known  how  to  guide  the  beautiful  creature 
amidst  the  difficult  duties  of  her  new  career,  and  to  teach 
her  how  to  fulfil  them  without  committing  blunders. 

In  the  April  following  the  engagement  the  couple 
were  to  make  a  public  entry  into  Vienna.  The  populace 
gathered  in  its  streets,  eager  to  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  lovely  Princess  who  would  soon  become  their  Em- 
press. Her  youth  and  sweet  grace  had  been  freely  spoken 
of,  and  wonderful  tales  had  been  told  of  her  exquisitive 
beauty.  The  people,  therefore,  were  in  a  tumult  of  ex- 
citement and  impatience  for  her  arrival,  her  progress  being 
triumphal  in  its  vivacious  jubilance.  Acclamations  rose 
on  every  side  as  the  flower-laden  barge  which  brought  her 

to  the  landing-place  on  the  Danube  approached  the  spot 

25 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

where  the  carriage  was  waiting.  She  sat  amid  the  pro- 
fusion of  roses  that  decked  the  Royal  vessel,  looking  like  a 
fairy  in  pale  pink,  wrapped  around  with  billowy  clouds  of 
white  tulle.  Added  to  this  effect  was  the  brilliant  gleam 
of  diamonds,  which  shone  and  glittered  among  the  dark 
beauty  of  her  hair.  Never  did  a  queen  seem  so  fair  as  this 
daughter  of  the  Wittelsbachs  when  she  entered  the  gates 
of  the  old  town,  proudly  led  from  the  barge  by  the 
Sovereign-lover,  who  escorted  her  through  the  long  line 
of  courtiers  and  officials  who  had  gathered  to  meet  her  on 
that  auspicious  day  which  saw  her  first  appearance  in  the 
Hofburg. 

The  marriage  took  place  three  days  later  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Hofburg.  It  was  a  scene  to  be  remembered  as 
long  as  memory  lasts.  During  the  first  few  months  after 
the  wedding  Elisabeth  was  the  most  popular  figure  in 
Vienna.  The  whole  of  Austria,  indeed,  doted  upon  its 
new  Empress  and  her  radiant  beauty.  It  seemed  at  first, 
moreover,  contrary  to  expectation,  that  the  Sovereign 
was  going  to  settle  down  to  the  quiet  joys  of  domestic 
life,  subdued  by  her  gentle  and  girlish  nature.  Unfor- 
tunately this  happiness,  which  Elisabeth  remembered  and 
cherished  all  through  her  life,  was  of  short  duration — as 
brief  as  it  had  been  intense.  The  disruption  was  largely 
the  work  of  ^he  Archduchess  Sophy,  who,  as  one  writer 
has  put  it,  "  ti.nsformed  the  Eden  into  which  EHsabeth 
thought  herself  transported,  into  a  hell  whence  she  tried 
vainly  to  escape."  Francis  Joseph  should  never  have 
allowed  his  mother  to  interfere  so  drastically  with  his 

26 


Elisabeth  becomes  Disillusioned 

married  life.  But  he  had  really  nothing  in  common  with 
his  wife,  and  moreover  w^as  a  slave  to  the  iron  etiquette 
of  the  Austrian  Court  and  its  high  priestess,  his  mother. 
Elisabeth  entered  upon  her  new  life  with  high 
thoughts  as  to  its  responsibilities  and  its  possibilities  for 
doing  good.  If  she  had  been  allowed  her  own  way  she 
would  have  spent  much  of  her  time  in  relieving  distress 
and  soothing  the  sorrows  of  her  subjects,  but  she  soon 
found  that  she  was  curbed  in  her  every  action.  She  was 
highly  indignant  at  first  at  the  hampering  restrictions  of 
an  etiquette  so  severe  that  every  action  of  her  daily  life 
became  subordinated  to  it  and  dependent  upon  its  rules. 
A  tide  of  anger  soon  succeeded  the  indignation,  an  anger 
specially  directed  against  the  Archduchess  Sophy,  who 
seemed  to  the  young  Empress  to  be  the  prime  mover  in 
this  conspiracy  of  repression.  In  this,  however,  she  was 
unjust ;  quite  truly  the  Archduchess  directed  matters,  but 
she  did  so  out  of  deference  to  the  heartless  rules  which 
had  existed  for  centuries  among  the  Habsburgs.  When- 
ever the  young  Empress  wanted  to  go  here  or  desired  to 
go  there,  or  do  this  or  that,  she  was  met  with  an  attendant 
or  the  Archduchess,  who  either  remonstrated  or  pointed 
out  that  she  must  be  accompanied,  or  it  w^as  impossible 
for  the  Empress  of  Austria  to  do  so  and  so.  The  Empress 
appealed  to  her  husband,  only  to  find  that  where  she  had 
refused  to  bend  to  the  rigid  etiquette,  the  Archduchess 
had  forestalled  her  and  impressed  upon  Francis  Joseph 
the  necessity  of  laying  his  commands  upon  Elisabeth  to 

regard  with  strict  obedience  all  the  commands  of  Habs- 

27 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

burg   Court  ceremonial,   even  though  it  did  kill  indi- 
viduality and  all  human  emotions. 

The  effect  of  all  this  treatment  upon  the  high-spirited 
girl  can  be  imagined.  Disgusted  at  being  systematically 
treated  as  a  child,  she  began  to  hate  ferociously  everything 
around  her,  not  excepting  her  husband,  and  particularly 
the  Archduchess  Sophy.  Had  anyone  taken  the  trouble 
to  explain  to  her  the  iron  demands  of  the  Court  etiquette 
things  might  have  been  different,  but  no  one  thought  it 
worth  while,  not  even  her  husband,  who  had  drifted  back 
into  his  old  courses,  leaving  his  child-wife  to  discover  too 
late  that  he  had  only  been  amusing  himself  with  her. 
Torn  by  the  love  she  still  held  for  the  unworthy  Francis 
Joseph,  and  the  conflicting  passion  the  knowledge  of  his 
attentions  in  other  directions  aroused,  the  Empress,  who 
was  proud  and  spirited,  refused  to  complain ;  she  deter- 
mined to  live  her  own  life,  and  henceforth  proceeded  to 
map  out  her  existence  in  supreme  disregard  of  those 
around  her.  As  an  outcome  the  Empress  Elisabeth 
developed  a  taste  for  solitude  which  gave  rise  to  many 
misapprehensions  on  the  part  of  friends,  and  unjust  sus- 
picions from  those  who  were  too  ready  to  blacken  the 
sweet  purity  of  her  character.  Of  course,  this  was  made 
known  to  her,  but  she  disdained  either  to  notice  them  or 
to  alter  the  course  of  her  life,  forgetting  that  calumny 
can  even  sully  the  reputation  of  an  angel. 

The  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  soon  disinterested  him- 
self altogether  from  his  wife's  affairs,  except  when  he  was 
called  upon  by  his  mother  to  bring  her  to  account  for  some 

28 


Francis  Joseph  and  Politics 

infraction  of  archaic  regulations.  The  children  of  the 
marriage  were  placed  under  the  care  of  the  Archduchess, 
and  Elisabeth  only  allowed  to  see  them  at  stated  intervals 
and  seldom  alone.  At  last  the  health  of  the  Empress 
broke  down  entirely,  and  she  was  compelled  to  spend 
several  winters  abroad,  which  completed  the  breach 
between  her  and  the  Emperor. 

Notwithstanding,  the  Empress  did  not  evade  her  duty 
to  the  Empire  in  moments  of  crisis,  and  when  it  was 
necessary  for  her  to  appear  beside  her  husband  on  special 
State  occasions  she  did  so  with  grace  and  dignity.  During 
the  war  with  France  in  1859,  as  well  as  during  those 
months,  few  but  full  of  destiny,  when  the  battle  of  Sadowa 
threw  the  Habsburgs  out  of  the  German  Confederation, 
Elisabeth  remained  in  Vienna  and  fulfilled  all  the  obliga- 
tions of  her  position.  Although  she  had  grown  to  despise 
her  husband,  she  knew  that  her  place  was  beside  him,  and 
that  in  the  hour  of  his  need  it  would  be  dishonourable  to 
desert  him. 

In  political  matters  the  Empress  held  entirely  aloof, 
more  so,  perhaps,  because  Francis  Joseph  prided  himself 
upon  his  acumen  in  handling  affairs  of  a  political  nature. 
He  was  aided  in  this  delusion  by  the  members  of  his  Court 
and  the  politicians  to  whom  he  Hstened,  who  all  flattered 
him  and  carried  out  his  whims  in  utter  disregard  to  their 
effect  upon  the  State.  It  is  not  remarkable,  therefore, 
that  the  most  appalling  calamities  befel  Austria,  disasters 
which  have  passed  into  history.  Of  one  such  disaster  the 
end  is  still  on  the  knees  of  the  gods ;  it  may  quite  well 

29 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

end  for  ever  the  rule  of  the  Habsburgs.  Throughout  his 
long  reign  Francis  Joseph  has  been  in  the  hands  of  his 
Ministers,  except  on  occasions  when  he  has  determined 
upon  independent  action,  and  whenever  he  has  done  so 
the  result  has  been  lamentable.  After  the  defeat  of 
Sadowa  he  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  shake  hands 
with  his  triumphant  foe,  for  the  sole  reason  that  in  his 
heart  he  longed  for  the  opportunity  to  strike  a  blow  at 
Russia  in  order  to  wrest  from  her  the  preponderance  of 
power  in  the  Near  East  which  he  cherished  as  belonging 
to  him  alone.  This  hatred  of  Russia  has  been  the  only 
sentiment  to  which  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  has 
remained  faithful. 

In  his  family  life  he  has  never  been  true  to  the  ties  of 
blood.  Quite  likely,  had  he  been  more  human  in  his 
treatment  of  the  Crown  Prince  Rudolph,  the  tragedy 
which  was  enacted  at  Mayerling  w^ould  not  have  taken 
place.  And,  too,  it  was  freely  said  at  the  time,  that  the 
main  reason  of  his  brother  Maximilian  accepting  the 
throne  of  Mexico,  was  to  get  away  from  the  influence  and 
repression  of  his  brother  Francis  Joseph,  whose  jealousy 
had  been  aroused  by  the  popularity  of  Maximilian  at  the 
time  he  acted  as  viceroy  at  Milan. 

One  of  the  favourite  claims  of  the  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph  is  that  he  w^as  the  man  who  conceived  and  carried 
into  execution  the  Triple  Alhance.  He  shut  his  eyes  to 
the  knowledge  that  Bismarck  framed  its  provisions,  and 
that  Count  Andrassy  carried  the  thing  to  practical  issue. 
To  this  day  he  maintains  that  he  suggested  the  whole 

30 


Austria  a  Pawn 

thing  to  the  old  King  William  I.  of  Prussia.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  Bismarck  knew  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  and 
made  use  of  the  Austrian  Emperor's  vanity  in  this  way 
so  as  to  be  able  to  shelter  behind  him  at  need. 

In  the  same  way  Austria  has  been  made  use  of  in  the 
Great  War.  No  student  of  European  politics  will  deny 
that  during  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  war  was  carefully 
planned  and  prepared  by  Germany,  and  that  Austria  has 
been  but  a  pawn  in  the  terrible  game,  used  by  the  Hohen- 
zollern  according  to  the  necessities  of  the  moment.  On 
her  own  account  Austria  would  never  have  dared  to 
present  the  fateful  ultimatum  to  Servia,  and  when  the  die 
was  cast  she  was  utterly  unable  to  hold  her  own  against 
the  troops  of  the  little  country  until  German  soldiers  had 
come  to  her  assistance.  Yet,  despite  it  all,  in  his  mind 
the  old  Emperor  firmly  believes  that  he  is  guiding  the 
nations  to  victory,  and  that  in  the  end  the  Habsburgs  will 
regain  supremacy  in  Germany,  with  the  HohenzoUerns  as 
their  vassals.  He  is  quite  happy  in  this  thought,  and 
firmly  convinced  that  the  future  will  prove  him  right. 
Even  if  he  sees  the  end  of  hostilities  and  the  establish- 
ment of  peace  on  a  basis  which  will  upset  all  his  vain 
imaginings  of  Habsburg  power  and  might,  he  will  be 
quite  satisfied  that  the  way  things  turn  out  will  be  due 
to  some  premature  and  foolish  blundering  on  the  part  of 
"that  impetuously  rash  youth,"  as  he  thinks  William 
II.,  and  go  to  his  grave  certain  that  he  could  have 
arranged  matters  much  more  satisfactorily. 


31 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  EMPRESS  ELISABETH 

IN  all  Europe  no  queen  has  excited  so  much  interest  as 
the  Empress  Elisabeth  of  Austria.  Even  with  her  un- 
timely death  at  the  hands  of  an  assassin  the  interest  did 
not  cease ;  if  anything  it  increased,  and  has  not  yet 
vanished.  She  exercised  an  extraordinary  fascination, 
owing  to  her  unusual  beauty  and  the  strength  and  vivacity 
of  her  mind.  To  this  add  the  mystery  of  her  life  and  her 
enigmatic  personality,  and  one  begins  to  imderstand  the 
magnetic  power  of  this  original  creature. 

Several  books  have  been  written  of  recent  years  which 
have  to  do  with  the  Empress,  and  affect  to  portray  her 
inner  life  and  her  true  character.  But  the  book  still  re- 
mains to  be  written  which  does  these  things  with  full 
knowledge. 

It  is  certain  that  Ehsabeth  of  Bavaria  was  a  strange 
woman  of  energetic  mind  and  character.  It  is  the  more 
remarkable,  therefore,  that  an  unkind  fate  should  have 
linked  her  life  with  that  rigid  and  cold  Court  of  the  Habs- 
burgs.  She  had  never  been  able  to  reconcile  herself  to  the 
tameness  of  its  everyday  life.  The  vivid  and  imaginative 
temperament  which  she  inherited  from  her  Wittelsbach 
descent  led  her  to  believe  tliat  she  could  always  live  in  a 

32 


The  Empress  and  Her  Children 

fairyland  of  her  own,  a  world  in  which  her  life  was  occu- 
pied in  performing  good  and  charitable  actions  toward  her 
subjects.  It  was  certainly  difficult  to  understand  such  a 
being,  more  difficult  still  to  appreciate  her ;  but  to  con- 
clude from  her  eccentricities  that  the  Empress  was  not 
faitliful  as  a  wife  and  pure  as  a  woman  is  cruelly  false. 

The  Empress  had  been  unhappy  as  a  wife  and  disap- 
pointed as  a  mother,  but  she  always  remained  fond  of  her 
children  and  as  affectionate  toward  her  husband  as  cir- 
cumstances permitted,  for  she  had  a  high  sense  of  the 
duties  of  wifehood  and  strove  to  keep  to  her  part  of  the 
marital  contract  despite  the  irregularities  of  the  Emperor. 
At  the  same  time  she  had  a  contempt  for  the  conventions 
of  hfe,  which  led  her  to  disregard  and  detest  the  etiquette 
that  surrounded  her  and  crabbed  her  freedom. 

Court  life  jarred  upon  the  Empress  Elisabeth's  nerves, 
and  made  her  long  the  more  for  mental  and  personal 
freedom.  An  unfettered  life  was  essential  to  her  nature. 
It  had  thrived  during  her  early  years  among  the  wild 
Bavarian  Alps,  upon  the  open  freshness  of  her  native  hills, 
and  her  soul  had  grown  beautiful  by  close  intercourse  with 
the  delights  of  Nature  as  she  revelled  in  the  forests  and 
wild  scenery  surrounding  her  home.  She  would  have 
been  perfectly  happy  with  the  proverbial  "  love  in  a 
cottage  "  had  Fate  been  in  the  mood  to  confer  such  an 
existence  upon  her.  At  first  she  was  amused  at  the  pomp 
and  luxury  which  surrounded  her  as  Empress,  and  played 
with  the  unwonted  wealth  then  at  her  disposal  by  her 
marriage,  as  a  child  does  with  a  gift  of  fruit,  bestowing  it 
D  33 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

upon  whomsoever  she  pleased.  But  she  soon  discovered 
that  these  things  left  her  soul  unsatisfied,  as  it  was  forced 
upon  her  that  her  heart  w^as  empty  and  bare  of  the  love 
which  an  Emperor  had  professed. 

Having  given  her  love  to  the  gay  young  man  who  had 
made  such  rapid  capture  of  her  unsophisticated  innocence, 
her  proud  and  haughty  nature  rebelled  against  unrequital, 
and  her  disappointment  was  cruelly  hard  to  bear.  She 
had  wanted  to  become  her  husband's  companion  in  a  real 
sense,  to  share  the  responsibilities  of  his  high  estate  and 
to  be  the  good  angel  always  at  his  side  to  point  out  the 
path  of  justice  and  mercy.  She  had  hardly  been  married 
three  months  ere  she  found  out  that  all  this  was  a  myth 
of  her  own  fond  imaginings,  and  that  Francis  Joseph  was 
entirely  uninfluenced  by  her  in  his  personal  life  and  in  his 
plans  for  the  country  at  large.  She  found  out  later  too 
that  the  Emperor  had  allowed  his  mother  to  retain  un- 
challenged her  sway  of  the  domestic  side  of  the  Royal 
household,  and  that  she  as  Empress  had  no  power  over 
her  own  servants  or  even  her  own  children. 

The  Archduchess  also  constituted  herself  her  daughter- 
in-law's  most  harassing  critic.  She  was  hardly  the  woman 
to  understand  a  girl  who  was  all  heart  and  impulse,  who 
would  laugh  one  moment  and  cry  the  next,  and  whose 
warm,  loving  heart  was  full  of  noble  intention;;  and 
loving  desires.  The  Archduchess  thwarted  her  daughter- 
in-law  at  every  step,  complained  against  her  \o  the  Em- 
peror, and  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  emphiisising  to 

Francis  Joseph  that  his  wife  was  a  raw,  uncultivated 

34 


The  Empress  in  Society 

creature  whom  it  was  necessary  to  mould  into  a  strict 
observance  of  what  was  required  of  her  by  her  position  as 
an  Empress  of  the  House  of  Habsburg.  The  Emperor's 
mother  would  have  liked  to  transform  Elisabeth  into  a 
wooden  Empress,  always  smiling,  always  extending  her 
hand  to  be  kissed,  but  without  initiative  or  will,  and 
entirely  dependent  upon  others.  This,  however,  was 
precisely  the  kind  of  thing  to  which  an  ardent  nature, 
such  as  Elisabeth  possessed,  could  never  submit,  and 
domestic  scenes  of  a  most  painful  character  were  frequent. 

These  squabbles,  in  which,  not  unnaturally,  Elisabeth 
mostly  failed  to  discomfit  her  more  experienced  relative, 
soon  became  common  property  in  Court  circles,  and  rulers 
of  Vienna  society,  following  the  lead  of  the  Archduchess 
Sophy,  were  not  slow  to  treat  the  Empress  as  a  nonentity, 
continuing  to  look  to  her  mother-in-law  as  the  real  leader 
at  Court.  Unfortunately,  Elisabeth  did  not  think  it  worth 
while  contesting  the  situation  with  the  usurper,  having  a 
hearty  disdain  for  the  petty  intrigues  daily  going  on 
around  her,  and  having  by  this  time  learned  the  uselessness 
of  appealing  to  her  husband. 

In  spite  of  her  beauty  and  charm  the  Empress  had  not 

made  herself  liked  among  the  haughty  and  ceremonious 

aristocracy  of  the  capital,  though  she  was  adored  by  the 

common  people  of  Austria  and,  too,  in  later  years,  as  she 

travelled  among  them,  by  the  Hungarians,  among  whom 

she  was  happier  than  anywhere  else  save  in  her  beloved 

native  land.    Often  she  thought  with  a  sigh  of  the  delicious 

liberty  she  enjoyed  amid  the  solitudes  and  beauties  of 

35 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

the  lovely  woods  which  surrounded  her  stately  home  at 
Possenhofen.  In  her  new  fatherland,  with  the  exception 
of  her  brother-in-law  Maximilian,  she  had  no  real  friends ; 
and  even  the  Archduke's  friendship  led  to  difficulties  and 
unjust  thoughts,  owing  to  the  enmity  which  Francis 
Joseph  had  long  cherished  in  regard  to  his  brother.  Thus 
forced  to  become  self-centred  in  the  sense  of  finding 
relaxations  which  she  could  enjoy  in  solitude,  the  Empress 
took  refuge  in  study,  which  was  always  congenial  to  her. 
As  soon  as  this  became  known,  it  was  attributed  to  affec- 
tation. She  turned  to  riding,  which  she  had  loved  from 
a  child  ;  and  Society  ridiculed  her  action  as  being  undigni- 
fied. She  then  ceased  to  repress  her  love  for  books  and 
flowers  and  art  and  the  lovely  things  of  the  world,  and 
she  was  at  once  condemned  as  extravagant  and  irritatingly 
superior.  In  short,  everything  she  did  to  save  herself 
from  a  wooden  existence  was  turned  and  twisted  to  her 
disadvantage  and  discredit  until  at  last,  thoroughly  dis- 
heartened and  disgusted,  she  decided  that  whatever  she 
did  she  would  be  misrepresented ;  therefore,  she  would 
live  her  own  life  in  her  own  way,  without  troubling  in 
the  least  about  what  her  detractors,  or  even  the  world  at 
large,  might  say. 

In  regard  to  her  children,  whom  she  had  hoped  to 
bring  up  according  to  her  own  ideas  and  to  keep  always 
about  her,  she  received  bitter  disappointment.  They 
were  taken  from  her  and  given  into  the  care  of  the 
Archduchess,  who  had  explained  to  her  son  that  it  was 

impossible  to  allow  so  irresponsible  and  young  a  mortal 

36 


Empress  Elisabeth  at  Madeira 

as  the  Empress  to  have  a  free  hand  in  the  rearing  of  her 

boy  and  girl,  lest  she  should  bring  them  up  according  to 

her  own  extravagant  ideas  and  without  reverence  for  the 

iron  traditions  of  the  Habsburgs.     The   Emperor  had 

entered  fully  into  his  mother's  views  and  arranged  matters 

so  that  Elisabeth  became  almost  a  stranger  to  her  own 

children,  deprived  of  the  love  of  those  to  whom  she  had 

hoped  to  turn  as  a  solace  from  the  sorrows  which  her 

marriage  had  brought. 

It  is  little  wonder  that  under  these  circumstances  she 

soon  found  the  pretence  of  ill-health  to  enable  her  to 

escape  from  the  daily  slights,  and  sought  the  distraction 

of  travel  in  foreign  lands.    Had  she  not  done  so  she  would 

probably  have  shared  the  fate  of  others  of  the  House  of 

Wittelsbach — solitude  and  quiet  saved  her  mind  from 

losing  its  balance.    The  doctors  sent  her  to  Madeira,  which 

was  not  then  so  fashionable  as  it  has  since  become,  and 

there  health  returned  to  her,  and  her  mind  recovered  that 

moral  strength  which  had  been  sapped  by  struggles  of 

spirit  against  the  awful  restrictions  of  the  chilly  etiquette 

of  the  Court  of  Vienna.    Amid  the  beautiful  country  and 

the  warm  restfulness  of  Madeira  the  Empress  Elisabeth 

learned  resignation,  even  if  submission  did  not  come,  and 

calling  to  her  aid  her  proud  reserve,  she  made  up  her 

mind  to  take  up  the  thread  of  her  life  once  more  where 

she  had  let  it  fall.     In  doing  so  she  became  entirely 

indifferent  to  praise  or  blame,  only  allowing  her  conscience 

to  be  her  judge  and  giving  no  account  of  her  actions  to 

anyone. 

37 


212354: 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

When  she  returned  to  Austria  she  surprised  everyone 

by  the  expression  of  set  sadness  and  melancholy  which 

had  taken  the  place  of  the  old  animation  and  interest 

which   had   made   her   so   exceedingly   charming.      She 

assumed  a  cold  dignity  which  bordered  upon  cynicism, 

and  which  imposed  even  upon  the  haughtiness  of  her 

mother-in-law,  who  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  child 

whom  she  had  successfully  bullied  was  now  capable  of 

holding  her  own  and  making  her  mother-in-law  feel  that, 

after  all,  she  was  not  Empress.     Elisabeth  was  always 

courtesy  itself  toward  the  Archduchess,  but  she  raised  an 

icy  barrier  between  them  that  even  the  audacity  and  the 

imperiousness   of   the   latter   failed   to   penetrate.     The 

Empress  Elisabeth  brushed  the  Archduchess  aside  with 

the  same  ease  that  she  took  precedence  over  her  at  State 

ceremonies. 

The  only  point  upon  which  the  Empress  Elisabeth  did 

not  succeeded  in  thwarting  the  old  Archduchess  was  that 

which  was  closest  to  her  own  heart :  the  education  of  her 

children,  which  was  proceeding  along  the  archaic  lines 

prescribed  for  centuries. 

On  her  return  from  Madeira  she  once  more  appealed 

to  the  Emperor  to  allow  her  son  and  daughter  to  remain 

under  her  immediate  care.    She  met  a  refusal  couched  in 

such  unthinkable  terms  that  she  never  again  renewed  the 

subject.     From  that  day  she  dissociated  herself  entirely 

from  the  education  and  rearing  of  her  offspring.     Quite 

expectedly,  the  world  thereupon  said  that  the  Empress 

was  an  unnatural  mother  who  hated  the  children  to  whom 

38 


An  Attempt  at  Reconciliation 

she  had  given  birth.  This  and  many  other  legends  were 
accredited  concerning  Elisabeth,  who  disdained  to  give 
the  lie  to  the  numerous  untruths  that  were  being  circulated 
concerning  her  person  and  tastes.  She  lived  her  own  life, 
in  which  none  of  those  who  ought  to  have  played  the 
principal  part  were  allowed  an  entrance,  and  when  the 
Emperor  once  attempted  a  reconciliation  she  made  him 
understand  that  she  was  no  longer  willing  to  give  to  his 
throne  heirs  that  would  belong  to  the  State  and  him, 
but  not  to  the  mother  who  had  brought  them  into  the 
world.  She  was  never  a  faithless  wife,  but  for  many  years 
she  remained  wife  in  name  only,  and  was  truly,  as  she 
once  said  in  a  moment  of  bitterness,  ^^  une  Iviperatrice 
de  parade.^' 

Elisabeth  of  Bavaria  was  made  for  something  better 
than  Fate  had  decreed  for  her  life.  She  had  in  her  the 
stuff  of  which  great  sovereigns  are  made,  and  it  was 
through  no  fault  of  hers  that  all  attempts  to  live  up  to 
her  great  position  were  repulsed  by  the  pitiless  hand  of 
her  mother-in-law,  abetted  by  the  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph.  Serene  and  brave  as  she  appeared  to  the  world 
that  watched  her,  she  had  terrible  hours  of  discourage- 
ment, during  which  she  struggled  bravely  against  the 
storms  that  were  perennially  shaking  her  heart.  This 
necessity  of  shutting  up  within  her  bosom  all  her  feelings 
could  not  but  exercise  a  baneful  influence  upon  her  con- 
duct and  upon  her  deportment.  She  could  not  hide  the 
contempt  which  she  felt  for  her  life,  and  she  became 

cynical  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  being  natural.    Yet 

39 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

all  the  time  she  suffered  terribly,  because  she  was  unable 
to  give  way  to  the  generous  and  noble  impulses  of  her 
heart. 

In  one  of  the  books  written  in  recent  years  about  the 
Austrian  Court  is  repeated  every  kind  of  silly  gossip 
calculated  to  lower  the  beautiful  womanliness  of  the 
Empress  Elisabeth  in  the  estimation  of  the  reader.  If 
one  were  only  to  believe  it,  the  Empress  was  absolutely 
devoid  of  heart,  absorbed  in  the  most  selfish  pursuits,  and 
putting  before  everything  else  in  the  world  the  care  of 
her  own  person  and  of  her  own  beauty.  In  reality  the 
Empress  did  no  such  thing.  She  had  some  curious  notions 
concerning  her  hair  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  to  be 
treated,  dressed  and  arranged ;  but,  apart  from  this  very 
innocent  originality,  she  evinced  no  signs  of  inordinate 
solicitude  for  her  own  beauty.  Like  all  artistic  people, 
she  had  an  innate  love  for  everything  that  was  beautiful, 
be  it  in  nature  or  in  humanity,  but  she  was  far  too  clever 
a  woman  to  be  content  to  spend  her  time  in  self-admira- 
tion. Had  she  done  so  she  would  have  been  far  happier 
than  was  the  case  and  would,  at  least,  have  found  some 
solace  in  her  life.     But  her  memory  outlives  untruth. 

As  time  goes  on,  and  especially  after  certain  docu- 
ments, now  locked  up  in  the  archives  of  the  Hofburg — 
among  which  are  the  Empress's  own  "Recollections'' 
— have  seen  the  light  of  day,  the  public  will  have  oppor- 
tunity to  judge  and  appreciate  this  extraordinary  woman. 
It  is  said  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Archduke 

Francis  Ferdinand  to  give  publicity  to  these  documents 

40 


Death  of  Archduchess  Sophy 

as  soon  as  he  had  the  power  to  do  so.  Whether  the  idea 
will  be  followed  by  the  present  heir  to  the  throne  when 
he  succeeds  his  uncle  it  is  difficult  to  say.  The  young 
Archduke  belongs  to  those  people  of  restricted  vision  who 
can  never  understand  that  moral  suffering  ennobles,  and 
perhaps  he  will  think  that  for  the  reputation  of  the  Habs- 
burgs  it  will  be  more  advantageous  to  allow  oblivion  to 
fall  upon  the  w^hole  personality  of  the  beautiful  Empress 
who  entered  the  Vienna  Hofburg  one  spring  morning  in 
quest  of  a  happiness  which  she  was  never  to  find  within 
its  walls. 

After  the  death  of  the  Archduchess  Sophy  the  position 
of  her  daughter-in-law  changed  considerably,  and  might, 
perhaps,  have  become  even  quite  tolerable  if  she  could 
have  made  up  her  mind  to  try  to  overcome  the  prejudices 
which  had  been  fostered  against  her.  But  Elisabeth  had 
been  wounded  to  the  quick  by  the  facility  with  which 
people  had  turned  against  her,  and  she  was  not  of  a 
forgiving  nature,  though  by  temperament  most  indulgent. 
She  was  above  taking  revenge  upon  those  who  had  slighted 
or  hurt  her;  she  simply  ignored  them.  Hypocrisy  was 
hateful  to  her,  and  she  could  no  more  have  smiled  upon 
a  person  whom  she  knew  to  be  her  enemy  than  she  could 
have  flown.  She  decided  that,  since  she  had  been  mis- 
judged, it  would  be  waste  of  time  on  her  part  to  attempt 
to  convince  those  who  had  done  so  that  they  had  been 
mistaken.  It  was  in  such  moments  that  she  felt  herself 
truly  an  Empress,  placed  so  far  above  common  mortals 
that  it  would  have  appeared  an  undignified  descent  to 

41 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

confess  to  knowledge  of  the  vile  attacks  of  which  she  had 
been  the  object.  She  knew  very  well  that  she  was  disliked 
by  the  aristocracy  of  Vienna,  and  she  revelled  in  it,  apply- 
ing herself  instead  to  the  affection  of  her  Hungarian 
subjects,  who,  as  she  was  aware,  worshipped  the  very 
ground  on  which  she  walked. 

When  at  Budapest,  or  in  her  residence  at  Godollo,  she 
was  quite  another  person  than  at  Schonbrunn  or  in  the 
old  rooms  of  the  Hofburg.  She  allowed  herself  to  be 
natural,  and,  freed  from  the  trammels  of  an  etiquette 
which  she  hated  more  and  more  every  day,  she  moved 
familiarly  among  the  Hungarian  nobility,  within  whose 
circle  she  found  numerous  friends. 

It  is  no  secret  that  it  was  owing  to  the  efforts  of  the 
Empress  that  a  reconciliation  was  at  last  effected  between 
Francis  Joseph  and  his  rebellious  subjects  of  former  times. 
It  is  to  be  questioned,  indeed,  whether  such  a  burying  of 
the  axe  could  ever  have  taken  place  but  for  the  efforts  of 
the  Empress,  who  gave  proofs  on  this  memorable  occasion 
that,  when  necessary,  she  could  be  a  clever  diplomat  and 
a  far-seeing  politician.  It  was  in  circumstances  like  these 
that  the  Empress  showed  the  generosity  of  her  nature. 
Forgetting  all  the  slights  and  the  insults  which  the 
Emperor  had  heaped  upon  her,  she  only  remembered  her 
duty  to  him  and  to  the  monarchy  of  which  her  son  was 
the  heir,  and  freely  gave  them  the  help  of  her  high  intel- 
lect and  of  her  popularity.  One  could  meet  her  beside 
her  husband   whenever  danger  threatened  him   or  the 

Empire  over  which  he  ruled.    It  was  in  such  dark  hours, 

42 


The  Last  Years  of  Elisabeth 

when  one  misfortune  after  another  was  falling  on  the 
ancient  House  of  Habsburg,  that  Elisabeth  of  Bavaria, 
ignoring  everything  else,  remembered  that,  despite  the 
spurnings  and  denials  to  which  she  had  been  subjected,  her 
place  was  on  the  throne  to  which  she  had  been  raised. 

In  the  last  years  of  her  life,  and  especially  after  the 
tragic  death  of  the  Crown  Prince  Rudolph,  the  relations 
of  the  Empress  with  Francis  Joseph  became  more  friendly 
than  they  had  been  for  a  long  time.  The  bereaved  father 
and  mother,  who  had  lost  their  best  hope  in  life  through 
a  catastrophe  the  like  of  which  has  never  yet  been  recorded 
in  the  annals  of  any  Royal  House,  were  drawn  together  in 
those  dark  hours  of  agony  by  a  grief  shared  in  common. 

The  selfish  nature  of  the  Emperor,  however,  soon 
regained  the  upper  hand ;  yet,  nevertheless,  the  feelings 
of  respect  with  which  his  wife  had  inspired  him  at  this 
period  of  sorrow,  owing  to  the  dignity  of  her  attitude  and 
the  generosity  with  which  she  had  laid  aside  her  own 
wrongs  to  stand  by  him,  made  I'  ^'asruely  realise  what 
a  treasure  he  had  had  in  this  woman  t,  and  brought 

him  some  regret  that  he  had  himself  thrust  her  from  him. 
He  could  not  undo  the  past,  but  he  became  more  in- 
dulgent in  regard  to  the  independence  manifested  by  his 
consort,  and  interfered  no  more  with  her  liberty.  The 
Empress  found  herself  free  at  last  to  do  what  she  liked 
and  to  spend  her  time  as  suited  her  own  inclinations 
without  being  subjected  to  everlasting  remonstrations. 
From  that  day  forward  Francis  Joseph  also  began  to 
consult  the  Empress  in  poHtical  matters  more  than  he 

43 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

had  ever  done  before,  seeking  her  advice  and  opinions  in 
the  difficulties  which  arose  from  time  to  time.  He  dis- 
covered that  her  common  sense,  which,  in  spite  of  her 
ideahstic  instincts,  was  very  great,  could  be  of  consider- 
able use  to  him,  and  that  her  soft  manners  brought  to  him 
friends  he  could  never  have  made  for  himself  without  her 
aid. 

The  Empress,  in  spite  of  her  preference  for  the  solitude 
into  which  she  had  retired  more  than  ever  after  the  drama 
of  Mayerling,  twice  emerged  from  the  shadows.  The  first 
time  was  on  the  twenty -fifth  anniversary  of  her  coronation 
as  Queen  of  Hungarj^  when  she  appeared,  together  with 
the  Emperor,  at  the  festivities  which  took  place  at  Buda- 
pest to  celebrate  the  event.  The  second  occasion  was 
during  the  famous  visit  of  the  Tsar  Nicholas  II.  and  the 
Tsaritza  to  Vienna,  just  after  their  marriage.  This  was 
the  last  time  the  Hofburg  saw  her  appear  in  all  the  pomp 
of  her  royal  position,  wearing  the  most  precious  of  the 
jewels  of  state,  regal  and  splendid  in  the  black  garments 
she  then  always  wore.  Those  who  were  present  on  this 
memorable  occasion  say  that  her  appearance  excited  even 
more  curiosity  than  that  of  the  newly  wedded  Tsaritza, 
in  spite  of  the  great  renown  of  the  Empress  of  Russia  as 
a  beauty.  After  that  day  the  world  saw  her  no  more, 
and  Elisabeth  vanished,  nevermore  receiving  the  homage 
due  to  her  as  a  sovereign  until  that  sad  day  when  she 
reposed  in  her  coffin. 

Very  soon  after  the  marriage  of  her  second  daughter, 

the  Archduchess  Marie  Valerie,  to  the  Archduke  Franz 

44 


A  Visit  to  Paris 

Salvator,  the  health  of  the  Empress  EHsabeth  began  to 
fail.  She  felt  acutely  the  separation  from  her  youngest 
child,  the  only  one  she  had  been  allowed  to  keep  beside 
her  and  to  bring  up  according  to  her  own  ideas.  Her 
love  of  wandering  gained  the  upper  hand  once  more,  and 
she  carried  her  sorrows  and  fancies  all  over  the  world, 
trying  to  find  solace  in  new  scenes  and  foreign  countries. 
She  spent  some  time  in  Paris  with  her  sisters,  the  Queen 
of  Naples  and  the  Duchess  d'Alengon,  who  lived  in  the 
French  capital. 

She  enjoyed  her  stay  in  the  great  city  all  the  more 
because  she  indulged  in  the  illusion  that  she  was  unknown, 
and  was  therefore  able  to  lead  the  kind  of  existence  which 
appealed  most  to  her  restless  heart.  The  Empress  also 
visited  the  Riviera,  where  the  sunshine  and  warmth  of 
the  climate  was  a  perpetual  joy  to  her.  The  wonderful 
air  and  the  wealth  of  flowers  in  that  happy  corner  of 
Europe  spoke  to  her  imagination  a  language  that  it  loved 
to  hear. 

The  Emperor  came  to  see  her  once  or  twice  at  the 
Hotel  du  Cap  Martin,  where  she  resided,  and  during  the 
quiet  walks  which  they  took  together  in  the  olive  woods 
which  surround  the  place  Elisabeth  became  more  charit- 
able in  heart  toward  the  man  who,  instead  of  the  love  for 
which  her  whole  soul  had  craved,  had  given  the  barren 
splendour  of  a  crown  which,  for  her,  had  so  often  been 
one  of  thorns.  Seeing  her  thus,  lonely  and  beautiful  in 
spite  of  her  years  and  the  griefs  that  had  shadowed  her 

existence,  he  must  surely  also  have  felt  some  regret  that 

45 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

he  had  misjudged  her.  At  least  we  must  hope  that  such 
was  the  case,  because  if  he  allowed  her  to  guess  that  he 
felt  some  such  sentiment  it  might  have  given  consolation 
to  the  broken  heart  of  the  poor  Empress. 

The  story  of  her  last  hours  is  too  well  known  to  repeat 
here.  She  found  rest  at  last  after  her  stormy  life,  which 
began  so  brilliantly  and  ended  in  tempest.  For  years 
Elisabeth  had  been  tossed  from  side  to  side  in  the  vain 
quest  of  a  peace  which  the  grave  alone  gave  her,  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly.  The  shores  of  Corfu,  which  she  loved 
so  well,  see  her  no  longer;  the  Achilleion,  which  she 
built  with  such  enthusiasm,  has  passed  into  hands  that 
she  would  probably  never  have  consented  to  have  touched 
again  had  she  guessed  they  would  one  day  be  dyed  with 
so  much  blood. 

All  the  emotions  that  filled  the  soul  of  Elisabeth, 
Empress  of  Austria,  all  the  poetry  which  lay  hidden  in 
her  heart,  all  the  sorrows  which  she  had  to  bear,  and  the 
few  joys  that  were  granted  to  her — all  came  to  an  end. 
She  lies  in  the  cold  vault  of  the  Capuchin  Church,  beside 
the  coffin  of  the  son  whose  tragic  death  changed  her  into 
a  Mater  Dolorosa,  wandering  with  her  despair  all  over  the 
earth,  and  never  again  smiling  on  a  world  that  had  neither 
appreciated  nor  understood  her.  Her  body  was  taken 
back  to  Vienna  with  every  manifestation  of  grief  on  the 
part  of  the  people  of  Geneva.  An  Imperial  train  was 
sent  from  Vienna  to  carry  her  remains  back  to  Austria. 
Officials,  ladies-in-waiting,  high  dignitaries,  started  for 
Switzerland  to  escort  their  Empress  on  this  last,  mournful 

46 


The  Supreme  Good-bye 

journey,  but  none  among  her  family  accompanied  them. 
When  she  was  placed  in  her  coffin,  neither  her  husband 
nor  her  daughter  were  present  to  give  a  last  kiss,  to  say 
a  last  prayer  over  her  mortal  remains.  Francis  Joseph 
was  reported  to  be  ill ;  the  Archduchess  Marie  Valerie 
was  said  to  be  in  attendance  upon  him.  Elisabeth  of 
Bavaria  only  found  mercenary  hands  to  lay  her  on  her  bier, 
to  bid  her  the  supreme  good-bye.  She  had  been  lonely  in 
her  life,  and  her  death  was  also  a  lonely  one.  Perhaps, 
after  all,  it  was  what  she  would  have  preferred.  Who 
knows  ? 


47 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY 

FEW  Royal  Houses  can  boast  of  so  many  Princes  and 
Princesses  as  that  of  Habsburg.  To-day  there  are  no 
fewer  than  thirty-one  Archdukes  and  fifty  Archduchesses, 
all  standing  more  or  less  in  the  direct  line  of  succession  to 
the  throne.  This  populous  family  circle,  which,  by  the 
way,  is  far  from  being  happy  or  united,  is  entirely  under 
the  sway  of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  on  whom  alone 
its  members  are  dependent  for  their  yearly  allowance,  and 
who,  according  to  the  statutes  that  rule  the  reigning 
house,  is  the  sole  master  of  their  fate.  The  Emperor  can 
deprive  them  of  their  rank  and  privileges,  or  even  have 
them  imprisoned  at  his  will,  without  any  chance  of  protest 
against  whatever  decisions  it  may  please  him  to  make. 

As  can  be  imagined,  tyranny  of  this  kind,  when 
harshly  exercised — as  it  has  been — is  the  direct  cause  of  a 
multitude  of  intrigues,  the  details  of  some  few  of  which 
with  but  little  variation  repeat  themselves  in  books  about 
the  Habsburgs.  The  descendants  of  Marie  Therese  have 
never  been  famed  for  puritanical  virtues.  They  have  not 
even  misbehaved  with  dignity  or  with  propriety,  but 
simply  lowered  themselves  to  the  level  of  the  companions 

which  they  found  for  themselves,  for  no  other  reason  than 

48 


Archduke  Maximilian 

that  it  was  amusing  and  appealed  to  their  coarse  tastes. 
The  Emperor  himself  gave  them  no  high  example  to 
follow,  though  he  simulated  affront,  surprise,  and  grief 
whenever  it  came  to  his  ears  that  one  of  his  numerous 
nephews  or  cousins  had  succumbed  to  the  temptation  of 
sacrificing  to  those  gods  whom  it  is  not  usual  to  mention 
in  polite  society.  They  failed  to  appreciate  the  foolishness 
of  believing  that  what  the  Emperor  allowed  himself  to 
perform  his  relatives  were  also  at  liberty  to  do.  The 
result  was  that  they  paid  for  the  milk  spilt,  while  the 
Sovereign  remained  peacefully  in  possession  of  all  the 
facilities  which  his  unapproachable  position  allotted  to 
him,  secure  in  the  fact  that  he  was  entirely  above  the 
criticisms  of  men  and  the  disapproval  of  his  own  family. 

Francis  Joseph  had  three  brothers.  Of  these,  the 
cleverest  was  undoubtedly  the  charming,  fascinating,  and 
amiable  Archduke  Maximilian,  whom  a  cruel  fate  was  to 
send  to  die  on  Mexican  shores.  This  Prince  had  none  of 
the  failings  and  all  the  qualities  of  the  House  of  Habsburg 
Lorraine.  He  had  profited  far  better  than  any  of  his 
brothers  by  the  lessons  which  their  mother,  the  Arch- 
duchess Sophy,  had  instilled  into  their  minds,  and  he  had 
proved  an  able  pupil  to  the  masters  who  had  been  respon- 
sible for  his  education.  A  sailor  by  profession,  he  had 
voyaged  all  over  the  world,  during  which  he  had  won  the 
affection  of  superiors  and  subordinates.  While  acting  as 
Viceroy  of  Milan  he  had  succeeded  in  making  himself 
popular,  even  in  Italy,  where  the  name  of  Austria  was 
violently  detested.  Had  Archduke  Maximilian  been 
E  49 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

allowed  to  do  as  he  liked,  and  to  rule  the  countries  con- 
fided to  his  care  along  the  lines  of  the  liberal  principles 
which  he  professed,  it  is  likely  that  the  whole  course  of 
history  in  that  part  of  Italy  would  have  turned  out  diflPer- 
ently,  and  that  the  House  of  Savoy  would  have  found  it 
more  difficult  than  was  the  case  to  bring  about  Italian 
Unity.  But  w^hen  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  and  the 
Empress  visited  their  Italian  dominions  in  the  early  days 
of  their  married  life,  Francis  Joseph  became  jealous 
of  the  affection  with  which  the  Archduke  was  viewed 
by  the  population  of  the  Duchy  of  Milan,  and  decided  to 
remove  him  to  another  sphere,  with  the  result  that  the 
war  of  1859  with  France  and  the  Kingdom  of  Sardinia 
put  an  end  to  Austrian  domination  in  the  Peninsula. 

In  the  meanwhile  Maximilian,  at  the  time  still  Viceroy 
of  Lombardy,  had  married  the  Princess  Charlotte  of 
Belgium,  the  only  daughter  of  King  Leopold  I.,  and  an 
exceedingly  clever  and  ambitious  woman.  He  retired 
with  his  bride  to  Miramar,  on  the  Adriatic  Sea,  where 
he  had  built  for  himself  a  fairy-like  residence  in  which 
he  hoped  to  forget  the  worries  and  difficulties  of  his  brief 
sojourn  in  Italy. 

The  Archduke  Maximilian  was  an  attractive  man,  with 
all  the  instincts  of  an  ancient  knight  of  chivalry,  always 
ready  to  put  his  person  and  his  sword  at  the  service  of 
the  oppressed  ones  of  this  earth.  His  dreamy,  idealistic 
character  had  much  in  common  with  that  of  his  sister-in- 
law,  and  the  two  became  great  friends,  a  friendship  which 

was  shared  by  the  Archduchess  Charlotte.    When  the 

50 


The  Empress  at  Miramar 

Empress  returned  to  Europe,  after  wintering  at  Madeira, 
she  landed  at  Trieste  and  repaired  to  Miramar,  where  she 
spent  some  happy  weeks  with  the  owners  of  this  lovely 
place.  When  she  returned  to  her  gilded  captivity  at  the 
Hofburg,  and  to  the  companionship  of  Francis  Joseph 
and  his  haughty  and  imperious  mother,  her  impatience 
and  grief  at  being  compelled  to  leave  the  cordial  hospi- 
tality of  Miramar  was  interpreted  in  a  most  malicious 
sense  by  busybodies  eager  to  make  bad  blood  between 
the  Emperor  and  his  consort.  The  vanity  of  Francis 
Joseph  was  hurt  at  the  thought  that  his  brother  might 
have  won  some  affection  from  the  lonely  woman  who  had 
hitherto  met  wdth  so  little  sympathy  in  her  own  family 
circle,  in  spite  of  the  exalted  position  that  she  occupied 
in  it. 

After  the  Empress  had  returned  from  Miramar 
petty  persecutions  began  to  be  exercised  against  the 
Archduke  Maximilian,  which  at  last  led  to  the  exchange 
of  a  violent  correspondence  between  him  and  Francis 
Joseph.  The  result  of  this  quarrel  would  have  probably 
led  to  the  banishment  of  Maximilian  from  the  Court,  and 
also  from  Miramar,  had  not  unforeseen  circumstances 
caused  the  crown  of  Mexico  to  be  offered  to  Maxi- 
milian. He  accepted  it  only  because  he  felt  his  position 
had  become  so  intolerable  that,  exile  for  exile,  he  and 
his  wife — with  whom  he  was  in  perfect  accord  on  that 
point  as  well  as  on  all  others — preferred  one  across  the 
seas,   where  at  least  they  would  be,   as  they  thought, 

masters  of  their  actions,  to  the  uncertainty  of  an  existence 

51 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

which  they  knew  but  too  well  might  become  absolutely 
intolerable.  They  found  themselves  objects  of  continual 
suspicion  in  Austria,  and  were  but  too  well  aware  that 
the  situation  might  easily  provoke  a  tragedy  which  their 
feelings  of  family  pride,  and  their  attachment  to  the 
traditions  of  their  race,  made  it  a  duty  for  them  to  try 
to  avert  by  every  means  in  their  power. 

As  for  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  it  was  with  very 
mixed  feelings  that  he  heard  about  the  new  prospect  that 
opened  up  before  his  brother;  he  was  glad,  nevertheless, 
to  have  him  out  of  the  way.  On  the  other  hand,  he  hated 
to  think  that  Maximilian  would  become  an  Emperor  as 
he  was.  Had  he  dared,  he  would  have  objected  to  this 
plan  of  the  Archduke,  but  then  he  found  suddenly  before 
him  an  adversary  on  whom  he  had  not  reckoned.  The 
ambitious  soul  of  the  Archduchess  Sophy,  his  mother, 
saw  in  the  elevation  to  Imperial  rank  of  her  second  son 
an  addition  to  the  family  glory  of  the  Habsburgs,  as  well 
as  an  advantageous  establishment  for  him ;  therefore,  she 
was  heart  and  soul  in  favour  of  the  proposal.  When  the 
Emperor  declared  he  would  not  give  his  consent  to  the 
proposition  brought  by  the  Mexican  deputies,  she  inter- 
fered and  boldly  told  him  that  he  had  always  shown 
himself  a  bad  brother  to  Maximilian,  and  that  if  he 
persisted  in  his  wish  to  deprive  her  second  son  of  advan- 
tages that  would  allow  him  to  have  an  independent 
position,  she  would  leave  Vienna  immediately  and  retire 
to  Miramar  for  the  rest  of  her  days.  This  would  have 
pleased  neither  Francis  Joseph  nor  his  Ministers.     They 

52 


Off  to  Mexico 

well  knew  the  Archduchess  was  capable  of  being  a  most 
dangerous  enemy,  and  by  her  opposition  to  the  Govern- 
ment might  have  brought  about  serious  difficulties. 

The  possibility  of  a  revolution  in  Hungary,  where  the 
^person  of  the  Emperor  at  that  time  was  most  unpopular, 
,    was  still  a  serious  contingency.     Had  it  come  to  pass  it 

i 

I    would  have  robbed  Francis  Joseph  of  his  kingship  and 
1  elevated  in  his  place,  as  King  of  Hungary,  the  Archduke 
!  Maximihan.    The  Ministers  at  Vienna  admitted  that  the 
idea  was  not  such  a  preposterous  thing  as  it  might  appear 
V  at  first  sight.     The  advisers  of  the  Austrian  Sovereign, 
therefore,  told  him  that,  all  things  considered,  it  would 
be  better  to  allow  the  Archduke  to  start  for  his  Mexican 
adventure,  but  only  on  the  condition  that  he  renounced 
once  for  all  his  rights  to  the  succession  of  the  Imperial 
throne,  and  also  the  fortune  to  which  he  was  entitled  as 
an  Archduke.     A  further  provision  they  advocated  was 
that,  in  case  events  prevented  Maximilian  from  remain- 
ing in  Mexico,  he  was  not  to  return  or  to  settle  in  his 
native    land    without    the    express    permission    of    the 
Emperor. 

The  conditions  put  forward  by  his  Ministers,  as  being 
the  only  ones  under  which  he  would  give  his  consent  to 
the  Archduke's  departure,  were  accepted  by  Francis 
Joseph  and  submitted  to  Maximilian,  rather  to  the  con- 
sternation of  the  latter.  But  things  were  already  too 
far  advanced  for  him  to  go  back.  He  had  given  his  word 
to  the  Mexican  deputies,  and  he  also  felt  that  if  he  now 
recoiled  from  the  regal  state  he  had  assumed  his  already 

53 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

difficult  existence  would  become  even  more  intolerable. 
With  the  consciousness,  therefore,  that  since  the  die  was 
cast  there  was  no  retracing  his  steps,  he  declared  himself 
ready  to  subscribe  to  his  brother's  wishes,  with  the  one 
reservation  of  retaining  possession  of  his  beloved  Miramar 
for  his  life  time ;  but  the  favour  was  refused — Francis 
Joseph  had  long  envied  Maximilian  his  beautiful  palace. 

Charlotte  felt  the  injustice  more  than  her  husband. 
She  refused  to  go  to  Vienna  to  take  solemn  leave  of  the 
Imperial  Family,  and  a  meeting  was  arranged  at  Gratz 
between  her  and  her  mother-in-law.  The  Archduchess 
Sophy,  accompanied  by  the  Empress  Elisabeth,  travelled 
thither  to  wish  the  new  Sovereigns  a  last  good-bye. 
Francis  Joseph,  however,  declared  that  he  would  come  to 
Miramar  to  accept  his  brother's  renunciation  of  his  patri- 
monial rights  and  to  bid  him  God-speed.  His  visit,  which 
was  surrounded  by  all  the  pomp  required  by  etiquette  on 
such  occasions,  passed  off  very  stiffly  and  with  much 
ceremony  on  both  sides.  But  when  the  Emperor,  who 
had  been  accompanied  by  the  Archduke  Maximilian  to 
the  little  railway  station  in  the  park  of  the  castle,  was 
about  to  board  the  train  that  was  to  take  him  back  to 
Vienna  a  sudden  remorse  seized  him,  and,  turning  round, 
he  just  said  one  word,  "  Max,"  and  opened  his  arms  to 
the  Archduke.  The  latter  threw  himself  in  them,  and 
for  the  last  time  in  their  lives  the  two  brothers  exchanged 
a  warm  and  fervent  embrace. 

Three  years  later  the  last  act  of  the  Queretaro  tragedy 
was  about  to  take  place,  and  the  hapless  Mexican  Monarch 

54 


Maximilian  Put  to  Death 

was  soon  to  be  brutally  put  to  death  by  Juarez.    For  how 

much  did  the  memory  of  that  embrace  on  the  station  at 

Miramar  count  ? 

When  things  came  to  this  pass  with  Maximilian  the 

Archduchess  Sophy  implored  Francis  Joseph  to  make  an 

effort  to  save  his  brother,  and  to  threaten  the  Emperor 

Napoleon  with  a  break  of  the  diplomatic  relations  between 

Austria  and  France  in  case  he  persisted  in  his  design  to 

bring  back  to  Europe  the  corps  of  French  troops  which 

were  the  only  defence  left  to   Maximilian  against  his 

enemies.    Francis  Joseph  brutally  declined,  and  declared 

that  the  matter  did  not  concern  him  any  longer — his 

brother  had  made  his  own  choice,  and  no  one  else  was 

responsible  for  his  lack  of  success.     He  reminded  his 

mother,  with  that  brutality  to  which  he  sometimes  gave 

way  in  spite  of  the  restraint  which  he  exercised  in  her 

presence,  that  he  had  always  been  averse  to  the  plan 

of  sending  an  Archduke  to  try  his  fate  among  a  land 

of  savages.    Unworthy  motives,  he  proclaimed,  had  been 

ascribed   to   his   opposition ;    he    could   now   no    longer 

be  of  any  use  to  his  brother,  and,  moreover,  he  had  to 

consider  before  everything  else  the  interests  of  Austria. 

He  refused  even  tc  allow  his  Ministers  at  Mexico  to  take 

any  official  steps  in  the  hope  of  saving  Maximilian,  giving 

as  his  excuse  that  it  was  ridiculous  to  threaten  when  it 

was  impossible  to  carry  threats  into  effect,  and,  besides, 

it  was  beneath  his  dignity  to  plead  with  a  brute  like  the 

leader  of  the  Mexican  rebels. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  opposition  of  the  Emperor 

55 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

Francis  Joseph,  an  effort  was  made  by  the  Austrian 
legation  in  Mexico.  This  was  at  the  instigation  of  the 
Archduchess  Sophy,  but  so  feebly  was  it  carried  out  that 
it  was  interpreted  rather  as  a  matter  of  form  than  as  a 
real  desire  to  snatch  the  victim  from  the  hands  of  Juarez. 

After  the  heroic  death  of  Maximilian  the  Empress 
Charlotte  became  insane.  The  Emperor  Francis  Joseph 
shed  many  tears  in  public  and  expressed  himself  as 
unutterably  shocked  at  the  awful  tragedy  of  Maximilian's 
end,  but  in  truth  his  grief  was  essentially  conventional, 
and  interfered  neither  with  his  sleep  nor  his  digestion. 
The  horror  of  the  drama,  in  which  his  brother  lost  his  life 
and  his  sister-in-law  her  reason,  made  little  impression  on 
the  placidit}'^  of  Francis  Joseph,  and  when  the  remains 
of  the  hapless  Mexican  Sovereign  w^re  at  last  given  up 
by  Juarez,  and  brought  back  to  Vienna,  Francis  Joseph 
considered  that  he  had  performed  all  the  duties  which 
nature  and  the  exigencies  of  Society  expected  of  him. 
He  laid  a  beautiful  wreath  upon  his  coffin,  and  after  this 
last  proof  of  remembrance  considered  himself  free  from 
all  further  obligations  in  regard  to  the  memory  of  a  brother 
he  had  never  loved  but  often  feared. 

The  Empress  Charlotte  was  removed  to  Belgium  by 
her  own  relatives,  and  Miramar  became  the  property  of 
the  Austrian  Crown.  During  her  lifetime  the  Empress 
Elisabeth  used  sometimes  to  go  and  spend  a  few  weeks 
there,  buried  in  the  remembrance  of  a  past  that  she,  at 
least,  had  not  forgotten.    The  Crown  Princess  Stephanie 

was  also  fond  of  this  silent,  soHtary  royal  palace,  where 

56 


Archduke  Charles  Louis 

the  murmurs  of  the  sea  that  surrounded  it  seemed  per- 
petually to  mourn  for  the  master  who  had  gone  from  it 
for  ever  on  a  beautiful  summer  day  that  for  him  was  to 
have  no  morrow.  It  was  at  Miramar  that  Stephanie  was 
married  to  her  second  husband,  Count  Lonyay.  Later 
on  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  and  his  consort,  the 
Duchess  of  Hohenberg,  used  to  visit  the  castle  from  time 
to  time ;  but  now  it  lies  mostly  deserted  the  whole  year 
round.  Perhaps  it  is  better  so,  because  no  Ilabsburg 
can  really  understand  all  the  poetry  contained  within  its 
walls  nor  the  soul  of  the  man  who  built  it  with  such  love 
and  care ;  whose  ghost,  if  ghosts  exist,  must  surely  haunt 
the  spot  he  cherished  with  such  tenderness. 

The  next  brother  of  Francis  Joseph  was  the  Archduke 
Charles  Louis,  with  whom  he  always  remained  upon 
excellent  terms,  owing  probably  to  the  great  resemblance 
in  their  characters  and  to  the  fact  that  the  younger  one 
always  gave  in  to  his  elder.  In  the  'nineties  the  Arch- 
duke was  a  fat  old  man,  with  courteous  manners,  an 
immense  amount  of  small  talk  at  his  disposition,  and 
none  of  the  Habsburg  arrogance.  Rumour  says  that  he 
was  upon  bad  terms  with  his  nephew,  the  Archduke 
Rudolph,  and  that  had  the  latter  succeeded  to  the  throne 
of  his  uncle,  he  would  have  lost  no  occasion  to  snub 
Charles. 

Fate,  however,  was  kind  to  Archduke  Charles  Louis ; 
it  successively  removed  from  his  path  all  the  people  who 
might  have  proved  troublesome  to  him.     He  lived  an 

entirely  commonplace  life,  which  he  managed  to  make 

57 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

most  comfortable  for  himself  and  the  reverse  for  others. 
He  was  married  three  times :  first,  to  the  Princess 
Margaret  of  Saxony,  who  died  after  giving  birth  to  a 
stillborn  infant  two  years  later;  his  next  wife  was  a 
Princess  of  Bourbon  Sicily,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons, 
of  w^hom  the  eldest.  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  was 
to  perish  at  Sarajevo,  while  the  second.  Archduke  Otto, 
became  the  father  of  the  present  heir  to  the  Austrian 
Crown.  The  second  wife  died  from  consumption.  After 
two  years  Charles  Louis  again  sought  an  alliance,  which 
he  found  in  the  person  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
women  in  Europe — one  of  the  six  lovely  daughters  of  the 
Portuguese  Pretender,  Dom  Miguel — the  Infanta  Marie 
Therese.  He  tormented,  bullied,  and  generally  made  her 
life  miserable  for  something  like  a  quarter  of  a  century 
until,  to  her  undoubted  relief,  a  merciful  Providence  re- 
moved him  to  a  land  where,  according  to  all  probability, 
Austrian  Archdukes  do  not.  enjoy  the  exalted  position 
which  belonged  to  them  in  the  world. 

The  Archduchess  Marie  Therese  was  a  very  clever 
woman,  who  managed  to  attain  considerable  influence 
not  only  in  Court  circles  but  in  the  outside  world,  and 
who,  being  gifted  with  wonderful  tact,  made  an  admir- 
able stepmother,  obtaining  her  stepchildren's  affection 
and  respect,  and  coming  to  their  help  whenever  it  was 
possible  to  do  so.  The  Archduke  Otto,  her  husband's 
second  son,  was  past  praying  for,  and  besides  also  took 
unto  himself  a  wife  who  knew  very  well  how  to  get  on 

in  life  and  who  did  not  require  the  assistance  of  the 

58 


Archduchess  Marie  Therese 

Portuguese  Infanta  to  make  herself  loved  and  respected. 
But  the  eldest  son  of  the  family,  the  Archduke  Francis 
Ferdinand,  found  in  his  father's  wife  the  kindest  of 
friends  and  a  valuable  help,  as  well  as  encouragement  in 
the  romance  which  ended  in  his  marriage  to  the  Countess 
Sophy  Chotek. 

The  Archduchess  Marie  Therese  was  the  only  member 
of  the  Imperial  Family  who  held  her  own  with  the 
Emperor,  and  who  obliged  the  latter  to  reckon  with  her 
opinions  and  judgments.  She  contrived  in  a  very  short 
time  to  secure  a  position  of  independence  and  in  a  certain 
sense  to  replace  the  late  Archduchess  Sophy  without,  how- 
ever, showing  any  signs  of  the  imperious  temper  which 
characterised  the  latter.  Since  the  death  of  the  Crown 
Prince  Rudolph  the  Empress  Elisabeth  had  definitely 
withdrawn  from  the  social  world  of  Vienna ;  she  never 
again  graced  a  Court  ball  with  her  presence.  The  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Therese  took  her  place,  and  did  the  honours 
of  the  Hofburg  by  the  side  of  Francis  Joseph  until  her 
own  widowhood  obliged  her  to  withdraw  into  the  retire- 
ment imposed  by  Austrian  etiquette  on  an  Imperial 
Princess  when  her  husband  dies. 

This,  however,  did  not  prevent  Marie  Therese  from 
remaining  the  most  important  personage  in  the  House  of 
Habsburg,  one  whom  even  Francis  Joseph  did  not  dare 
to  contradict.  So  strong  was  her  position  that  when  it 
was  rumoured  that  she  was  about  to  re-marry,  and  take 
for  husband  the  master  of  her  household,  the  Count 
Cavriani,  not  one  voice  in  the  whole  of  Viennese  societj) 

59 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

dared  say  a  word  against  her.  The  report,  however, 
turned  out  to  be  quite  untrue. 

Marie  Therese  is  still  a  power  at  Court,  and  though 
she  is  seldom  seen  in  public,  it  is  to  her  that  one  applies 
in  the  many  emergencies  inseparable  from  the  existence 
of  Royal  personages,  and  it  is  her  advice  and  opinions 
which  prevail  in  all  matters  where  etiquette  comes  into 
question.  She  still  lives  in  Vienna  during  the  winter 
months,  whilst  her  summers  are  spent  at  the  castle  of 
Reichstadt  in  Bohemia,  which  she  has  embellished  and 
transformed  into  a  modern  habitation  where  medieval 
walls  and  furniture  rival  twentieth-century  comforts.  It 
w^as  at  Reichstadt  that  the  marriage  of  the  Archduke 
Francis  Ferdinand  with  Countess  Chotek  took  place,  and 
it  was  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  the  former's  step- 
mother that  it  became  possible. 

When  the  Archduchess  Isabella  turned  the  unfortu- 
nate Countess  Chotek,  who  had  attracted  the  heir  to  the 
Austrian  monarchy,  out  of  her  house,  and  the  young  lady 
found  every  door,  including  those  of  her  nearest  relatives, 
closed  against  her,  it  was  Marie  Therese  who  went  to 
fetch  her  from  the  convent  at  Prague  to  which  she  had  re- 
tired, and  who  took  her  into  her  own  house,  pleading  her 
cause  with  the  Emperor.  She  took  upon  herself,  too,  all 
the  arrangements  in  connection  with  the  wedding,  which 
she  insisted  was  to  take  place  in  her  own  private  chapel. 
She  it  was  who  fastened  on  the  head  of  the  bride  the 
diamond  diadem  that  had  formerly  belonged  to  her  future 

husband's  mother,  and  once  upon  a  time  had  adorned 

60 


ARCHDUKE   FRANCIS  FKRDINAND  AND 
THE   DUCHESS   OE    HOHI'NBERG 


The  Hohenberg  Tragedy 

the  brow  of  Queen  Caroline  of  Naples.  Her  Halations 
with  the  newly  married  couple  whom  she  had  befriended 
remained  excellent  until  the  catastrophe  of  Sarajevo 
claimed  them  as  its  victims,  and  immediately  upon  hear- 
ing of  it  she  went  to  Konopischt,  where  the  unfortunate 
children  of  her  stepson  and  of  the  Duchess  of  Hohenberg 
were  staying,  and  herself  broke  to  them  the  terrible  news 
of  their  parents'  horrible  death.  And  when,  thanks  to 
the  intrigues  of  a  certain  Prince  who  is  a  favourite  of  the 
Emperor,  the  funeral  of  Francis  Ferdinand  and  of  his 
wife  was  celebrated  in  a  way  which,  to  say  the  least  of 
it,  was  absolutely  indecent,  Marie  There se  was  the  only 
one  who  dared  tell  Francis  Joseph  to  his  face  what  she 
thought  of  him,  as  well  as  declare  to  him  that  if  he  did 
not  grant  to  the  sons  and  daughter  of  his  murdered 
nephew  the  yearly  income  usually  awarded  to  Austrian 
Archdukes,  she  would  resign  in  their  favour  the  allow- 
ance which  she  drew  as  the  widow  of  their  grandfather. 

The  argument  proved  effective,  because  her  wishes 
were  taken  into  consideration  and  the  future  of  the 
children  assured  in  a  manner  befitting  their  rank  and 
station  in  life.  It  must  here  be  remarked  that  had  it  not 
been  for  this  intervention  of  the  Archduchess  the  fate  of 
these  children  might  have  been  very  different,  as  the  great 
fortune  enjoyed  by  their  father  as  heir  of  the  Duke  of 
Modena  passed,  according  to  the  Duke's  will,  to  the  young 
Archduke  Karl  Franz  Joseph  until  his  accession  to  the 
throne,  when  it  would  revert  to  his  youngest  son. 

Francis  Ferdinand  had  always  been  his  stepmother's 

61 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

favourite,  but  his  other  brothers,  too,  were  the  object  of 
her  care  and  attention.  The  youngest  of  the  three, 
Ferdinand  Charles,  who  was  the  best  looking  of  the  whole 
family,  became  the  hero  of  a  romance  that  caused  a  mild 
sensation  in  Viennese  society.  He  was  of  a  retiring  and 
studious  disposition,  and  did  not  care  for  the  pleasures 
generally  dear  to  young  men  of  his  age.  He  was  very 
much  liked  for  the  affability  of  his  manners  and  his 
absence  of  affectation,  as  well  as  for  a  great  generosity 
and  kindness  that  always  made  him  seek  occasions  to 
become  useful  to  others.. 

Ferdinand  sought  the  society  of  men  capable  of 
sympathising  with  him  and  of  sharing  his  favourite  pur- 
suits. He  cared  for  literature,  and  had  assembled  a 
considerable  library  of  well-selected  books  mostly  treat- 
ing of  historical  and  scientific  matters.  He  was  the  first 
Archduke  who  was  to  be  seen  in  the  houses  of  men  who 
had  made  for  themselves  a  name  among  the  learned  ones 
of  their  country,  and  it  was  in  their  company  rather  than 
in  that  of  the  golden  youth  of  Vienna  that  he  could  be 
found.  As  he  was  a  youngest  son,  his  tastes  did  not  enter 
into  account  at  Court,  and  people  did  not  trouble  to  make 
any  ill-natured  reports  concerning  him  to  the  Emperor. 
Francis  Joseph,  too,  was  also  supremely  indifferent  to  a 
nephew  about  whom  he  never  thought,  reserving  his 
attention  for  the  sons  of  the  Archduke  Otto,  in  whom 
he  saw  his  future  successors  and  whom,  as  such,  he  had 
carefully  watched  by  those  among  his  personal  attendants 
and  friends  who  cared  for  that  sort  of  work. 

62 


Love  Affairs  of  Ferdinand  Charles 

Meanwhile,  Ferdinand  Charles  had  met  at  the  house 
of  one  of  the  professors  at  the  Vienna  University,  with 
whom  he  had  struck  up  a  great  friendship,  a  girl  who 
captivated  his  imagination  by  the  charm  of  her  manners 
as  well  as  by  her  extreme  beauty.  Her  name  was  Bertha 
Tschuber,  and  her  father  was  a  famous  mathematician 
whose  fame  had  gone  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  native 
country.  For  something  like  two  years  the  Archduke 
paid  his  addresses  to  her  and  tried  to  persuade  her  to 
marry  him  in  secret,  as  he  could  hardly  hope  to  obtain 
the  sanction  of  the  Emperor  to  their  union.  She  abso- 
lutely refused  to  lower  herself  to  what  she  justly  thought 
would  be  considered  in  the  light  of  personal  mercenary 
aims,  and,  besides,  did  not  care  to  run  the  risk  of  seeing 
her  marriage  declared  illegal,  as  it  would  surely  have  been 
if  it  did  not  receive  the  Imperial  consent. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  the  matter  would  have 
ended  had  not  Marie  Therese  interfered  in  favour  of 
the  young  people.  She  took  upon  herself  the  task  of 
smoothing  the  obstacles  which  stood  in  the  way  of  their 
union,  but  though  she  pleaded  hard  with  Francis  Joseph 
to  induce  him  to  permit  a  morganatic  marriage,  she  only 
obtained  this  permission  on  the  condition  that  the  Arch- 
duke would  renounce  his  titles  and  rank,  and  would  con- 
sent to  be  known  in  the  future  by  the  name  of  plain 
Ferdinand  Burg,  engaging  himself  at  the  same  time  never 
to  live  in  Austria  or  to  show  himself  in  Vienna.  In  return 
the   Emperor   promised   Ferdinand   Charles   an   income 

which,  though  moderate,  was  yet  quite  sufficient  for  his 

63 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

requirements.  The  young  Archduke  was  but  too  glad 
to  obtain  his  hberty  at  the  price,  and  he  settled  in  Munich, 
where  he  soon  made  himself  very  much  liked  and  respected 
by  the  dignity  of  his  conduct,  manners,  and  general 
demeanour. 

His  marriage  proved  to  be  an  extremely  happy  one, 
and  the  daughter  of  Professor  Tschuber  showed  herself 
quite  worthy  of  the  honour  of  her  wifely  estate.  Unfor- 
tunately for  them  both,  the  health  of  Ferdinand  Charles, 
which  had  never  been  good,  began  to  fail,  and  it  soon 
became  evident  that  he  had  inherited  from  his  mother  the 
seeds  of  consumption.  The  best  care  could  not  cure  the 
insidious  advances  of  disease,  and  poor  Ferdinand  Charles 
died  in  1914,  after  a  brief  period  of  happiness  that  had 
been  very  great,  and  wiiich  would  have  probably  remained 
so,  as  both  he  and  his  wife  had  the  same  tastes  and  were 
quite  suited  to  one  another.  The  Archduchess  Marie 
Therese  came  from  Vienna  to  attend  her  stepson's  death- 
bed, and  helped  to  nurse  him  with  that  devotion  which 
she  knew  so  well  how  to  bring  in  regard  to  everything 
that  she  did  concerning  her  stepchildren,  to  whom  she 
had  always  shown  herself  the  best  of  mothers. 

During   her   long   married   life    Marie    Therese    had 

given  birth  to  two  daughters,  of  whom  the  eldest,  Marie 

Annonciade,  was  appointed  Abbess  of  the  Convent  of 

Noble  Ladies  of  the   Hradschin,   in   Prague,   a  purely 

honorary    position    which,    however,    conferred    a    large 

income    as    well    as    a    very    high    rank   on   the  holder. 

Previous  to  the  Archduchess  Annonciade,  the  place  had 

64 


Archduchess  Marie  Annonciade 

been  occupied  by  the  now  Dowager  Queen  of  Spain, 
Marie  Christine,  and  it  was  always  given  to  a  Princess 
belonging  to  the  Imperial  House.  This  convent  was 
something  like  the  abbeys  of  ancient  France — a  refuge 
for  ladies  devoid  of  means  and  whose  noble  birth  was 
beyond  dispute.  They  were  perfectly  at  liberty  to  marry 
if  they  liked,  when,  of  course,  they  had  to  renounce  the 
privileges  appertaining  to  their  association,  for  it  could 
hardly  be  called  anj^thing  else.  Among  other  rights  the 
abbess  had  that  of  crowning  the  Queens  of  Hungary,  an 
occasion  upon  which  she  appeared  in  full  canonicals  with 
a  mitre  on  her  head  and  a  staff  in  her  hand,  just  as  if  she 
had  been  a  real  religieuse. 

The  Archduchess  Marie  Annonciade  was  but  eighteen 
years  of  age  when  she  was  called  upon  to  occupy  this 
important  office,  which,  thanks  to  the  sound  advice  that 
she  received  from  her  mother,  and  had  the  good  sense 
to  follow,  she  contrived  to  fulfil  to  the  satisfaction  of 
all  concerned.  After  the  death  of  her  half-brother,  the 
Archduke  Otto,  when  the  latter's  consort  found  herself, 
in  her  turn,  compelled  to  retire  from  the  world,  and 
until  the  marriage  of  Otto's  son  with  the  Princess  Zita 
of  Bourbon  Parma,  it  was  the  Archduchess  Marie  Annon- 
ciade who  did  the  honours  of  the  Hofburg,  in  connection 
with  which  she  was  given  a  household  of  her  own  and 
became  absolutely  independent.  She  is  a  very  great  lady 
in  manners  and  a  most  affable  Princess,  who  has  won  for 
herself  golden  opinions  in  Vienna,  where  her  great 
courtesy  in  regard  to  the  dowagers,  whose  word  had  long 
F  65 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

been  law  in  Society,  has  been  the  more  appreciated 
because  these  severe  ladies  had  not  been  considered  as  of 
much  account  either  by  the  late  Empress  or  the  Crown 
Princess  Stephanie.  Especially  noticeable  had  always 
been  the  impatience  of  the  Crown  Princess,  whose  aver- 
sion for  every  kind  of  constraint  had  made  her  many 
enemies. 

The  sister  of  Marie  Annonciade,  the  Archduchess 
Elisabeth  Amelie,  was  married  to  a  Prince  Liechtenstein, 
who  in  all  probability  will  one  day  succeed  to  the  family 
estates  and  the  principality  of  that  name.  She  is  very 
pretty  and  resembles  her  mother  more  than  the  Habs- 
burgs,  whose  lower  lip  she  has  not  inherited  by  some  kind 
of  miracle,  for  which,  I  suppose,  she  feels  immeasurably 
grateful. 

The  Archduke  Otto — often  referred  to  as  the  half- 
brother  of  these  young  ladies — who  ought  in  due  course 
to  have  succeeded  his  uncle  on  the  thrones  of  Austria  and 
Hungary,  was  spoken  of  with  bated  breath  in  Society 
as  "one  of  the  worst  men  who  ever  hved."  Stories 
without  number  are  related  of  his  excesses  and  extrava- 
gances and  the  bad  treatment  which  he  showered  upon 
his  wife,  a  Princess  of  Saxony  and  a  most  admirable 
woman,  who  bore  with  him  with  exemplary  patience. 
When  he  was  dying  of  a  loathsome  disease  Marie  Josepha 
went  to  nurse  him,  though  they  had  not  lived  together 
for  more  than  ten  years.  She  remained  with  him  to  the 
end,  attending  to  his  wants  with  a  devotion  that  excited 

the  admiration  of  all  his  doctors  and  attendants,  and  which 

66 


Eccentricities  of  Archduke  Otto 

no  sister  of  charity  could  have  equalled.  Archduke  Otto 
was  a  thoroughly  bad  man,  who  respected  nothing, 
believed  in  nothing,  and  was  never  stayed  by  thought  of 
any  pain  that  he  would  inflict  on  others  if  by  doing  so 
he  could  obtain  gratification  of  any  of  his  fancies. 

Among  the  tales  that  were  related  about  him  there 
are  two  which  deserve  more  than  a  passing  mention. 
One  day  when  out  riding  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Vienna 
he  met  a  funeral  on  its  way  to  the  churchyard.  A  wild 
thought  seized  hold  of  him,  and,  setting  his  horse  straight 
for  the  procession,  he  made  it  spring  across  the  coffin  that 
was  being  carried  to  the  grave.  The  scandalised  family 
of  the  deceased  complained  to  the  Emperor  in  energetic 
terms  concerning  the  conduct  of  the  Archduke,  and  his 
freak  led  to  an  exile  for  some  long  time  in  Oedenburg, 
in  Upper  Austria,  where  he  spent  his  days  more  in  riotous 
living  than  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  military  duties. 

The  other  story  is  too  difficult  to  relate  delicately, 
especially  as  it  concerns  a  shocking  indignity  to  which  he 
caused  his  wife  to  be  subjected.  After  this  drunken 
escapade  the  Archduchess  thought  it  was  high  time  to 
apply  to  the  Emperor,  who,  entering  into  the  difficulties 
of  her  position,  and  for  once  showing  himself  kind  to  a 
member  of  his  own  family,  allowed  her  to  live  apart  from 
her  husband,  and  even  conferred  an  independent  income 
upon  her. 

The  Archduchess  Marie  Josepha  was  a  very  pretty 
woman,  and  a  good  one  into  the  bargain.     Being  the 

mother  of  the  future  heir  to  the  throne,  and  exercising  a 

67 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

very  real  influence  over  him,  she  was  rather  more  con- 
sidered than  the  other  Princesses  of  the  Imperial  Family, 
and  she  became  the  leader  of  a  powerful  party  at  Court. 
This  circle  acquired  further  strength  owing  to  the  fact 
that  it  identified  itself  with  the  Clerical  party  and  with 
the  Jesuits,  who  wanted  to  rule  under  her  name  and  that 
of  her  son  at  some  future  time.  She  was  liked  by  Francis 
Joseph,  but  nevertheless  did  not  influence  him  to  the 
same  extent  as  the  Archduchess  Marie  Therese,  who  was 
far  cleverer  than  her  stepdaughter-in-law,  with  whom, 
though  outwardly  on  the  best  of  terms,  she  did  not 
thoroughly  sympathise.  The  two  ladies  used  to  see  each 
other  frequently,  and  in  regard  to  certain  matters  acted 
together,  understanding  verj^  well  that  union  is  the  best 
strength.  But  it  is  to  be  questioned  whether,  if  either  of 
them  had  become  an  Empress,  she  would  have  shown 
herself  as  affectionate  to  the  other  one  as  was  the  case 
when  they  were  both,  as  it  were,  equals  in  rank. 

The  great  preoccupation  of  the  Archduchess  Marie 
Josepha  is  her  two  sons,  especially  the  eldest,  who,  owing 
to  the  morganatic  marriage  of  his  uncle,  had  always  been 
considered  as  the  eventual  heir  to  the  throne.  He  is  a 
mild  young  man,  one  of  those  who  are  commonly  called 
very  good  boys.  He  inherited  his  mental  capacity  from 
his  mother's  family,  who  came  from  the  House  of  Saxony, 
which  had  never  been  famed  for  a  superabundance  of 
executive  abiUty.  For  the  present  I  will  merely  say  that 
he  will  assuredly  prove  to  be  a  docile  Emperor,  and  at 
least  he  has  no  vices.     He  is  blessed  with  a  very  pretty 

68 


Archduke  Frederick 

wife  of  his  own  mental  calibre.  She  will  make  an  excel- 
lent Empress,  especiallj^  in  such  a  diminished  and  unim- 
portant country  as  Austria  will  become  after  the  present 
war.  Francis  Ferdinand,  his  uncle,  was  a  quite  different 
individuality.  He  would  have  asserted  himself,  most 
probably,  in  an  unexpected  way  had  it  been  granted  to 
him  to  succeed  to  his  uncle. 

The  member  of  the  Imperial  Family  with  most  influ- 
ence at  the  present  day  is  the  Archduke  Frederick,  who  by 
reason  of  his  immense  fortune — inherited  from  his  uncle, 
the  Archduke  Albert — has  acquired  an  authority  and  an 
importance  far  exceeding  that  of  any  of  his  cousins.  He 
is  supposed  to  be  an  excellent  general,  though  his  relative, 
the  Archduke  Joseph  Ferdinand  of  Tuscany,  has  given 
proofs  of  much  greater  military  talent.  But  Frederick, 
by  reason  of  his  age,  has  become  a  persona  grata  with  the 
Emperor,  who  frequently  consults  him  in  matters  of  state 
on  such  subjects  as  he  consents  to  discuss  with  anyone 
else  but  his  own  conscience  and  common  sense. 

The  Archduke  is  married  to  the   Princess  Isabella 

of  Croy,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Duke.    The  marriage 

caused    a   nine-days'    wonder,    though   the    Croys    were 

considered   a  family   having   the  right  to   ally  itself  to 

Royalty.     She   is   a   stout   and   enterprising   lady,    with 

an   erratic   temper,    a   fair   endowTnent  of   haughtiness, 

and  much   ambition.     The   couple   have   a   quiverful  of 

daughters,  who  with  one  exception  have  married  common 

mortals  boasting  of  unimpeachable  quarterings.     They 

also  ha\e  one  son,  who  will  one  day  come  into  possession 

69 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

of  the  enormous  and  splendid  estates  which  his  father 
owns  and  which,  but  for  his  advent,  after  his  parents  had 
been  akeady  married  about  twenty  years,  would  have 
gone  to  a  collateral  branch  of  the  Habsburg  family. 

I  notice  that  I  have  not  spoken  yet  of  the  Emperor's 
youngest  daughter,  the  Archduchess  Marie  Valerie,  which 
is  an  unpardonable  omission  if  one  remembers  that  she 
is  a  very  considerable  personage  by  reason  of  the  uncon- 
testable influence  which  she  wields  over  her  father,  an 
influence  that  once  even  exceeded  that  of  Frau  Schratt, 
the  great  friend  and  Egeria  of  Francis  Joseph.  Marie 
Valerie  rules  the  Court,  though  she  does  not  own  to  the 
fact,  as  well  as  all  matters  relating  to  the  domestic  aftairs 
of  the  Hofburg  and  of  Schonbrunn.  She  is  clever  in  her 
way,  with  none  of  the  charm  but  much  of  the  manner  of 
her  mother,  the  late  Empress  Elisabeth.  The  Arch- 
duchess Marie  Valerie  can  show  herself  very  determined 
on  occasions  when  she  thinks  that  her  interests,  her 
welfare  or  her  comforts  come  into  question.  She  has 
married  a  younger  son  of  a  Habsburg  branch  that  once 
reigned  in  Tuscany,  a  good-natured  fellow  who  thinks 
of  nothing  else  but  his  family  and  the  game  he  is  about 
to  shoot  or  has  already  shot.  They  have  a  numerous 
family.  Her  eldest  daughter  is  the  most  beautiful  of 
the  children,  but  to  her  mother's  great  sorrow  the  Arch- 
duchess EHsabeth  did  not  elect  to  wed  an  Archduke ;  she 
married  in  preference  a  simple  captain  in  the  army — 
Count  George  of  Waldbourg. 

These  marriages  of  the  young  Archduchesses  of  the 

70 


Prince  Otto  Windisch  Graetz 

present  generation  with  private  gentlemen  belonging  to 
the  highest  aristocracy  have  been  very  frequent  lately. 
The  Emperor's  granddaughter,  the  Archduchess  Elisa- 
beth, the  only  child  of  the  poor  Crown  Prince  Rudolph 
— whom  there  had  been  a  question  of  uniting  to  the  King 
of  Spain — led  the  way  in  such  unions.  She  fell  violently 
in  love  with  Prince  Otto  Windisch  Graetz,  a  younger  son 
of  the  illustrious  house.  A  proverb  has  long  been  current 
in  Vienna  concerning  the  House  of  Graetz.  It  runs  : 
"  God  has  created  clever  men,  stupid  men,  and  Windisch 
Graetzes."  If  one  is  to  believe  all  that  one  hears,  the 
husband  of  the  Princess  Elisabeth  is  no  exception  to  this 
rule — a  fact  which,  happily  for  her,  his  wife  has  so  far 
not  realised. 


71 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  AFFAIRS  OF  FRANCIS  FERDINAND 

AFTER  the  murder  of  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand 
-^"^  no  one  of  sufficient  personal  importance  to  take 
his  place  was  left  in  the  Austrian  Imperial  Family.  The 
new  heir  to  the  throne  will  certainly  never  dare  to  emerge 
from  his  present  attitude  of  strict  submission  to  the  will 
of  the  old  Emperor.  He  lacks  that  initiative  of  which 
his  uncle  had,  perhaps,  too  much. 

The  unfortunate  victim  of  the  Sarajevo  tragedy — if 
we  are  to  believe  those  who  knew  him  well — was  not  at 
all  the  kind  of  man  he  has  been  commonly  represented. 
In  fact,  all  through  his  life  he  kept  the  general  public 
profoundly  ignorant  as  to  his  real  aims  and  ambitions. 
Francis  Ferdinand,  though  heavy  and  dull  in  appearance, 
was  gifted  with  more  insight  into  human  nature  than 
he  has  been  given  credit  for,  and  he  had  nothing  of  the 
warlike  character  which  has  been  attributed  to  him.  On 
the  contrary,  he  showed  himself  on  more  than  one  occa- 
sion the  restraining  spirit  among  the  advisers  of  the 
Emperor.  In  particular,  he  could  never  be  brought  to 
endorse  the  policy  of  Count  Aerenthal,  whom  he  pro- 
foundly disliked,  and  mistrusted  even  more  than  he 
detested.     He  liad  applied  himself  to  the  reorganisation 


Activities  of  Count  Aerenthal 

of  the  Austrian  army,  not  because  he  was  anxious  to 
bring  about  a  war,  but  because  he  did  not  intend,  in 
case  his  country  should  be  drawn  into  one — an  entirely 
different  thing — that  Austria  should  be  compelled  to  play 
second  fiddle  to  her  Prussian  allies. 

At  the  time  of  the  last  Balkan  crisis  he  had  displayed 
extreme  moderation,  and  is  wrongly  supposed  to  have 
urged  the  annexation  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  to  the 
Austrian  Empire.  This  measure,  the  forerunner  of  so 
much  trouble,  originated  entirely  in  the  fertile  mind  of 
Count  Aerenthal,  who  had  always  nursed  the  ambition 
of  becoming  the  Bismarck  of  his  country  and  of  earning 
for  himself  a  name  in  her  diplomatic  annals  by  making 
her  come  out  of  her  outwardly  relative  passivity  to 
assume  the  leadership  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula.  More- 
over, he  saw  clearly  that  in  that  part  of  the  world, 
with  a  little  management,  Austria  could  easily  find  the 
opportunity  she  had  sought  ever  since  1848  to  pay  out 
Russia  for  the  help  the  latter  country  had  awarded  her 
at  the  time  of  her  Hungarian  misfortunes. 

Count  Aerenthal  was  of  Hebrew  origin,  and,  like  the 
generality  of  converts,  he  was  a  fanatic.  Furthermore, 
he  remained  all  his  life  more  or  less  under  the  influence 
of  the  Jesuits,  though  he  was  not  at  all  a  devout  sort  of 
man  in  the  church-going  sense ;  in  fact,  he  was  not  given 
to  going  to  church  more  than  was  absolutel}^  necessary 
to  establish  his  reputation  as  a  right-thinking  man  in 
those  circles  of  Viennese  society  which  could  further  the 
development  of  his  career.     He  had  applied  himself  to 

73 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

study  the  character  of  the  Emperor,  and,  with  singular 
insight  into  its  intricacies,  had  at  once  put  his  finger  on 
the  vulnerable  spot  of  that  selfish,  opinionated  nature — 
its  immeasurable  vanity.  From  the  day  when,  still  as  a 
young  secretary  of  legation,  he  had  replaced  one  of  his 
chiefs  during  a  temporary  absence,  and  had  been  admitted 
to  the  honour  of  presenting  a  report  on  some  diplomatic 
incident  to  the  Sovereign,  he  had  contrived  to  please  him, 
principally  by  the  apparent  astonishment  and  admiration 
which  he  had  assumed  at  every  word  and  remark  uttered 
by  Francis  Joseph. 

The  Emperor  had  not  been  used  to  produce  such  an 
impression  on  his  Ministers,  especially  on  those  who 
during  the  past  twenty-five  years  had  had  the  direction 
of  the  outward  politics  of  his  Empire.  Count  Andrassy, 
for  instance,  had  never  taken  the  trouble  to  dissimulate 
his  impatience  whenever  the  Emperor  had  attempted  to 
inquire  as  to  any  of  the  details  of  the  Count's  administra- 
tion of  the  Foreign  Office.  Baron  von  Haymerle  had  said' 
nothing,  but  allowed  Francis  Joseph  to  guess  a  good  deal, 
and  had  flatly  refused  to  follow  his  indications  on  several 
occasions.  As  for  Count  Goluchowski,  who  had  all  the 
haughtiness  of  the  Polish  aristocracy  to  which  he  belonged, 
he  had  simply  ignored  his  Imperial  Master  until  the  day 
when,  thoroughly  disgusted  by  the  turn  w^hich  events 
were  taking,  he  had  retired  into  private  life.  With  Count 
— at  that  time  still  Mr. — Aerenthal  things  were  very 
different.    He  made  a  special  point  of  always  taking  the 

orders  of  the  Emperor  before  making  any  suggestion  to 

74 


Bosnia  and  Herzegovina 

him,  but  contrived  to  do  it  in  such  a  cunning  way  that 
in  the  long  run  it  was  he  who  decided  everything  and 
his  plans  that  were  put  into  execution. 

The  annexation  of  Bosnia  and  of  Herzegovina,  for 
example,  was  hinted  at  in  one  of  these  private  conversa- 
tions. The  old  Monarch  at  once  declared  that  he  had 
all  along  thought  it  was  a  shame  this  measure  had  not 
been  resorted  to  long  ago,  and  finally  took  upon  himself 
the  responsibility  of  this  bold  step  about  which  he  would 
never  have  troubled  but  for  the  activity  of  Count 
Aerenthal. 

The  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  was  perfectly  well 
aware  of  this  state  of  things,  and  it  made  him  dislike 
even  more  than  he  had  done  before  his  uncle's  adviser  and 
Minister.  The  Archduke,  whatever  has  been  related  to 
the  contrary,  had  no  hostile  intentions  against  anyone 
among  the  neighbours  of  Austria.  Indeed,  he  was  very 
averse  to  any  complications  likely  to  bring  the  Monarchy 
into  trouble — compUcations  for  which  public  opinion 
might  have  made  him  answerable.  His  one  great 
ambition  was  to  consolidate  the  position  of  his  wife  and 
children,  and,  if  possible,  to  arrange  matters  so  that  his 
son  might  succeed  him,  if  not  in  Austria,  at  least  in 
Hungary.  When  he  had  married  the  Countess  Sophy 
Chotek — a  union  which  would  never  have  taken  place  had 
it  not  been  for  the  stupidity  of  the  Archduchess  Isabella, 
who,  in  thrusting  out  of  her  house  her  unfortunate  lady- 
in-waiting,  compromised  her  so  thoroughly  that  the 
Archduke  could  but  offer  her  the  only  reparation  which 

75 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

lay  in  his  power  and  wed  her — Francis  Ferdinand  had 
been  compelled  by  his  uncle  to  renounce  for  his  posterity 
all  rights,  not  only  to  the  succession  to  the  throne,  but 
also  to  the  immense  inheritance  of  the  Duke  of  Modena, 
which  constituted  the  bulk  of  his  future  fortune.  I 
use  the  word  "  future  "  because,  though  the  vast  estates 
of  the  ducal  family  of  Este  passed  to  the  Archduke,  their 
revenues  continued  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  widow  of  their 
last  owner,  the  Princess  Adelgonda  of  Bavaria.  She  died 
in  October,  1914,  four  months  after  the  murder  of  her 
nephew,  when  the  present  heir  to  the  Austrian  throne, 
the  young  Archduke  Charles  Francis  Joseph,  stepped 
into  her  place. 

Francis  Ferdinand,  who  was  always  supposed  to  be 
very  rich,  had  in  reality  very  little  bej^ond  his  allowance 
as  a  member  of  the  Imperial  Family  to  live  upon,  together 
with  some  estates  that  he  had  inherited  from  his  father, 
which  were  encumbered  by  the  large  dowry  which  his 
stepmother  drew  from  them.  When  people  in  Vienna, 
who  did  not  like  either  him  or  his  wife,  reproached  them 
for  what  they  called  their  meanness,  they  did  not  realise 
that  he  drew  no  revenue  from  the  Modena  estates,  and 
far  from  having  the  millions  attributed  to  him,  the 
Archduke  had  to  be  very  careful  with  his  money — the 
more  so  in  order  that  he  might  make  provision  for  his 
children.  The  Countess  Chotek  had  no  money  of  her 
own.  The  children,  therefore,  would  have  been  left  with 
but  a  very  modest  fortune   if  the   Archduchess   Marie 

Therese,  their  father's  stepmother,  had  not  intervened 

76 


The  Duchess  of  Hohenberg's  Future 

on  their  behalf  and  persuaded  the  Emperor  to  give  them 
for  their  Hfetime  an  allowance  of  the  same  proportions  as 
enjoyed  by  all  the  Archdukes  and  Archduchesses. 

Considering  these  facts,  of  which  no  one  abroad  and 
but  few  people  in  Austria  were  aware,  it  will  not  be 
difficult  for  the  reader  to  believe  that  Francis  Ferdinand's 
immediate  interests  commanded  him  to  try  and  smooth 
over  any  political  difficulties  likely  to  compromise  the 
peace  of  the  Austrian  Monarchy  which  might  have  arisen. 
He  was  perfectly  well  aware  that,  should  his  wife  survive 
him  before  her  position  had  been  put  on  an  unassailable 
footing,  she  would  find  herself  in  inost  terrible  diffi- 
culties, both  from  a  moral  and  a  material  point  of  view. 
The  Imperial  Family  detested  her,  and  the  society  of 
Vienna  had  not  forgiven  her  for  a  marriage  which  had  at 
once  raised  her  to  a  pinnacle  to  which  even  the  daughters 
of  the  haughtiest  princely  family  of  the  upper  aristocracy 
could  not  have  aspired.  She  had  lived  a  secluded  life 
since  she  had  become  the  consort  of  the  heir  to  the  throne, 
and  this  also  was  reproached  to  her  and  put  to  the  account 
of  a  pride  which  seemed  out  of  place  to  those  who  had 
known  her  as  a  girl.  Then  she  was  of  no  importance  and 
had  been  glad  to  obtain  the  appointment  of  lady-in-wait- 
ing to  the  Archduchess  Isabella — a  position  which  had 
allowed  her  to  become  independent  of  the  relatives  on 
whose  bounty  she  had  been  thrown  when  the  death  of 
her  parents  had  left  her  almost  without  resources. 

Count  and  Countess  Chotek  had  both  been  delightful 

people,    had   spent   their   money   freely   in   the   various 

77 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

diplomatic  posts  which  they  had  occupied,  shown  them- 
selves admirable  hosts,  and  been  immensely  popular ;  but 
they  had  never  given  a  thought  to  the  morrow  or  to  the 
future  of  their  numerous  children.  Providence,  however, 
had  been  kind  to  them  in  that  all  their  daughters  married 
admirably  well.  There  were  six  of  them,  and  none  were 
provided  for  when  the  Count  died,  after  a  mental  illness 
which  had  necessitated  his  confinement  in  an  asylum. 
Countess  Chotek  had  died  a  few  years  before.  The  happy 
home  in  which  their  children  had  been  reared  was  broken 
up,  and  the  children  left  to  make  their  own  way  in  the 
world  as  best  they  could.  They  had  all  inherited  the 
great  charm  of  their  father  and  mother,  and  were  general 
favourites  in  Viennese  society,  as  well  as  in  Prague,  where 
they  had  innumerable  relations  and  friends,  the  Choteks 
being  themselves  Czechs  and  connected  with  the  highest 
Bohemian  aristocracy. 

Sophy,  who  was  to  ally  herself  in  such  an  unexpected 
manner  to  the  Habsburgs,  was  perhaps  the  cleverest  of 
her  family.  This  fact,  however,  did  not  help  to  smooth 
the  ground  before  her  at  the  time  when  her  love-romance 
with  the  Archduke  directed  toward  her  the  attention 
of  the  whole  of  Austria.  She  was  perfectly  well  aware 
of  the  angry  looks  of  those  whom  her  marriage  had 
either  disappointed  or  offended,  and,  as  was  but  natural, 
this  made  her  shy.  It  also  angered  her,  though  she  knew 
how  to  conceal  her  anger.  She  made  up  her  mind  that 
she  would  conquer  for  herself  the  position  which   had 

been  refused  to  her,  and  began  from  the  first  hour  of  her 

78 


The  Emperor  and  His  Heir 

marriage  to  feel  her  way,  very  cautiously  at  first,  and 
with  more  assurance  later,  into  the  good  graces  of  the 
Emperor. 

The  latter  had  never  cared  for  his  nephew;  he  per- 
ceived in  him  signs  of  an  independence  of  character  that 
jarred  upon  him,  and  felt  dissatisfied  with  the  ease  with 
which  the  Archduke  had  stepped  into  his  position  as  heir- 
presumptive,  insisting  upon  being  kept  instructed  as  to 
what  was  going  on  in  both  political  and  military  matters, 
and  making  friends  and  supporters  for  himself  without 
any  reference  to  his  uncle's  wishes,  likes  or  dislikes. 
Francis  Joseph,  therefore,  was  not  so  very  sorry  when 
he  discovered  that  the  young  man  who  had  made  himself 
so  disagreeable  to  him  was  meditating  a  marriage  which 
would  put  him  in  an  awkward  position  in  regard  to  the 
whole  family ;  and  he  gave  his  consent  to  this  romantic 
union  with  less  opposition  than  could  have  been  expected, 
but  surrounded  it  with  all  the  formalities  that  he  could 
think  of,  so  as  to  guard  against  any  possibility  of 
the  children  which  Sophy  Chotek  might  bear  to  her 
husband  becoming  anything  but  rich  private  people. 
Sophy  herself  was  given  the  title  of  Princess  of  Hohen- 
berg,  but  no  rank  w^hatever  at  Court — a  state  of  affairs 
which  made  her  position  almost  unbearable,  seeing  how 
strictly  Court  etiquette  was  observed  at  the  Hofburg. 
The  new  Princess,  however,  said  nothing.  The  Emperor 
was  already  a  very  old  man ;  she  felt  she  could  reasonably 
hope  to  survive  him.  Nevertheless,  she  set  herself  to  win 
his    good    opinion,    and    partly    succeeded,    principally 

79 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

because  she  persuaded  him  that  she  was  influencing  her 
husband  toward  a  definite  abandonment  of  his  rights  to 
the  succession  in  favour  of  Charles  Francis  Joseph  (the 
son  of  his  next  brother,  Otto),  who  had  always  been  the 
great  favourite  of  the  Emperor. 

Finally,  the  Emperor  fell  to  quite  an  appreciable 
extent  under  the  influence  of  his  clever  niece  by  marriage. 
Indeed,  he  conferred  upon  her  the  title  of  Duchess,  to- 
gether with  a  rank  that  gave  her  precedence  over  all 
ladies  of  society  with  the  sole  exception  of  the  Arch- 
duchesses. Moreover,  he  liked  to  have  her  about  him, 
and  this  was  a  source  of  displeasure  to  many  people, 
among  others  to  Prince  von  Montenuovo,  the  great 
favourite  of  the  Emperor,  who  hated  the  Archduke 
Francis  Ferdinand. 

As  time  went  on  the  Duchess  of  Hohenberg  became 
an  important  personage,  though  she  kept  always  more 
or  less  in  the  background.  The  Emperor  William  II., 
however,  was  clever  enough  to  seek  her  friendship ;  he 
saw  that  if  he  won  her  good  graces  she  could  persuade 
her  husband  to  enter  into  the  political  views  of  Germany 
and  espouse  her  quarrels.  But  she  and  William  II.  were 
at  cross  purposes ;  the  consort  of  Francis  Ferdinand 
merely  wanted  the  Emperor's  help  to  consolidate  her  own 
position  in  the  present  as  well  as  in  the  future  by  obtain- 
ing its  official  recognition  at  foreign  Courts ;  the  German 
Emperor,  on  the  contrary,  simply  wished  to  make  her  a 
pawn  in  the  complicated  game  he  had  already  made  up 

his  mind  to  play  sooner  or  later. 

80 


Francis  Ferdinand  at  Potsdam 

The  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  and  his  wife  were 
invited  to  spend  a  week  at  Potsdam,  where  they  were 
awarded  a  warm  welcome,  and  Sophy  Hohenberg  treated 
as  if  she  had  been  the  Archduchess  she  dreamt  of  becom- 
ing one  day.  This  visit  led  to  another  one ;  this  time  to 
Windsor  Castle,  where  King  George  and  Queen  Mary 
received  the  future  Emperor  of  Austria  with  the  courtesy 
which  they  know  so  well  how  to  show  to  all  who  have 
the  honour  to  become  their  guests.  But  though  the 
Duchess  was  herself  accompanied  by  one  of  her  own 
relations,  who  for  the  occasion  filled  the  place  of  a  lady- 
in-waiting,  she  felt  that  the  English  Court  did  not  forgo 
its  etiquette  so  far  as  to  consider  her  quite  as  the  equal 
of  her  husband.  This  wounded  her,  but,  whatever  she 
might  have  felt,  she  effectually  concealed  it  with  that 
self-control  for  which  she  was  so  remarkable,  and  the  visit 
passed  off  better  than  could  have  been  foreseen  when  it 
was  entered  upon. 

On  their  return  from  England  the  couple  began  to 
show  themselves  in  Society  more  than  had  been  the  case 
before.  They  took  to  entertaining  their  friends  in  a  quiet 
way  and  made  a  few  country-house  visits  in  Bohemia, 
Galicia  and  other  Austrian  provinces.  The  Duchess,  who 
had  always  belonged  to  the  extreme  Clerical  party,  but 
had  always  refrained  from  airing  her  opinions  too  openly, 
now  showed  less  reticence.  She  was  preparing  her  ground 
for  the  time  when  her  husband  succeeded  to  his  uncle, 
a  moment  that  she  fully  intended  would  see  her  put  at 
last  into  the  place  which  she  considered  to  be  her  due. 
G  81 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

According  to  the  Hungarian  constitution,  she  might 
have  been  acknowledged  as  the  Queen  of  that  country, 
and  her  children  declared  able  to  succeed  to  their  father, 
had  Francis  Ferdinand  cared  to  make  an  effort  in  that 
direction.  It  was  to  make  this  effort  that  the  Duchess 
was  determined  to  persuade  him.  But  in  order  to  effect 
this  revolution — for  it  would  be  nothing  else,  according 
to  the  traditions  which  up  to  that  day  had  ruled  all  the 
actions  of  the  Habsburgs — a  perfectly  peaceful  political 
situation  was  a  sine  qua  non.  The  Archduke  was  very 
well  aware  of  this  fact,  and  this  was  the  reason  why  he  did 
not  view  with  a  favourable  eye  the  adventurous  line  of 
poHcy  pursued  by  Count  Aerenthal.  Far  from  approving 
the  annexation  of  Bosnia  and  of  Herzegovina  to  the 
Austrian  crown,  Francis  Ferdinand  violently  opposed  it, 
though  throughout  Europe  he  was  given  the  credit  for  the 
contrary,  partly  through  the  agency  of  Aerenthal  himself, 
who,  to  justify  his  action  before  foreign  chancelleries, 
declared  that  he  was  not  to  blame  in  the  matter.  The 
Emperor,  influenced  by  his  nephew  and  heir,  Aerenthal 
said,  had  personally  decided  the  matter. 

The  Archduke  became  aware  of  this  calumny  and  of 
the  astuteness  of  his  uncle's  adviser,  who  thus  shifted 
the  burden  on  to  his  shoulders.  He  was  furious  with 
Aerenthal,  and  they  quarrelled,  from  which  time,  until 
Aerenthal's  fatal  illness,  they  were  greater  enemies  than 
ever. 

The  choice  of  a  successor  to  Aerenthal  became  a 
matter  of  supreme  importance,  and  though  the  names  of 

82 


Count  Berchtold  takes  Office 

several  candidates  were  submitted  for  the  approval  of  the 
Sovereign,  Francis  Joseph  did  not  take  kindly  to  any. 
At  this  juncture  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  who 
had  hitherto  never  interfered  with  any  of  the  decisions  of 
the  Monarch,  came  forward  and  proposed  the  Austrian 
Ambassador  in  Petersburg,  Coimt  Berchtold,  as  the 
successor  of  his  late  hete  noire. 

Count  Berchtold  was  one  of  his  personal  friends,  and 
he  trusted  him  more  than  anyone  else  among  the  men 
who  held  important  posts  in  the  Empire.  He  was  a  very 
amiable  man,  the  perfect  type  of  an  Austrian  aristocrat — 
proud,  haughty,  and  more  or  less  convinced  that  the 
Almighty,  in  creating  him,  had  had  some  quite  special 
views  and  intentions  as  to  his  future.  He  was  very  rich, 
had  married  a  handsome  and  attractive  woman  who 
had  been  born  and  bred  in  the  heart  of  diplomacy, 
her  father.  Count  Aloys  Karolyi,  having  been  successively 
Austrian  Ambassador  in  Berhn  and  in  London,  where  the 
beauty  of  the  Countess  Karolyi  had  made  a  considerable 
sensation.  Countess  Berchtold  was  a  very  great  lady, 
with  the  manners  and  the  attitude  of  one,  and  she  had 
been  one  of  the  few  persons  who  had  neither  abused  nor 
turned  the  cold  shoulder  on  Sophy  Chotek  when  the  latter 
had  won  the  heart  of  the  heir  to  the  Austrian  and 
Hungarian  crowns. 

Perhaps  this  circumstance  had  had  something  to  do 
with  the  favour  with  which  he  w^as  viewed  by  Francis 
Ferdinand. 

With  Count  Berchtold  installed  at  the  Ball  Platz,  the 

83 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

Archduke  thought  that  he  was  safe  from  any  complica- 
tions that  could  interfere  with  the  plans  which  he  was 
already  preparing  for  the  day  when  he  should  become  the 
master. 

A  serious  illness  of  the  old  Emperor  during  the  first 
months  of  1914  brought  the  Archduke  more  in  evidence 
than  had  ever  been  the  case  before  and  added  considerably 
to  his  importance.  This  was  felt  everywhere — nowhere 
more  than  in  Berlin  and  at  Potsdam,  where  William  II. 
was  speculating  as  to  what  the  future  held  in  reserve  for 
him  on  the  day  when  his  grandfather's  old  ally,  Francis 
Joseph,  should  have  closed  his  eyes  for  ever.  He  showed 
himself  unusually  attentive  to  Francis  Ferdinand  and  to 
the  latter's  consort,  and  he  visited  them  at  Miramar, 
where  they  were  spending  the  spring,  on  his  way  back 
from  Corfu,  whither  he  had  repaired  at  the  beginning  of 
March  for  his  annual  holiday.  The  interview  was  a  most 
cordial  one ;  the  Emperor  and  Archduke  separated  appar- 
ently on  the  best  of  terms.  Three  months  later  the 
German  Emperor  invited  himself  at  the  Castle  of  Kono- 
pischt,  in  Bohemia.  This  visit  did  not  end  so  happily 
as  the  former  one,  because  it  became  clear  to  William  II. 
that  the  Archduke  did  not  in  the  least  intend  following 
him  in  the  adventurous  policy  which  he  was  already 
dreaming  of,  and  that  all  his  thoughts  were  concentrated 
on  family  matters. 

The  whole  world  was  convinced  that  the  accession  of 
Francis  Ferdinand  would  mean  war  within  a  short  time. 

This  opinion  had  originated  from  Count  Aerenthal,  and 

84 


A  Misfortune  of  Magnitude 

had  been  so  cunningly  put  into  circulation  that  there  are 
a  good  many  people  who  to  this  daj^  are  convinced  that 
the  one  bellicose  element  in  Austria  was  the  unfortunate 
Prince  who  fell  at  Sarajevo.  In  reality,  things  were 
entirely  different,  and  it  is  pretty  certain  that  had  Francis 
Ferdinand  not  been  murdered  in  such  a  dastardly  manner 
he  would  have  done  much  to  consolidate  the  peace  of 
Europe.  He  had  a  will  of  his  own,  and  would  never  have 
become  a  puppet  in  the  hands  of  his  Ministers  and 
advisers,  and  he  was  far  too  good  a  husband  and  father 
to  endanger  the  existence  of  his  wife  and  children  in  an 
adventure  which,  in  any  case  and  whatever  the  ultimate 
results,  could  only  have  done  them  harm. 

His  assassination  was  one  of  those  misfortunes  of 
which  the  magnitude  can  only  be  appreciated  long  after 
it  has  occurred.  It  left  the  field  free  to  all  the  intrigues 
of  the  military  party  in  Austria  and  of  the  partisans  of 
war  in  Germany,  and  it  afforded  the  pretext,  which  the 
latter  had  long  been  looking  for,  to  put  into  execution 
the  programme  which  has  plunged  the  whole  of  Europe 
into  chaos  and  calamity. 

Once  the  Archduke  had  disappeared  there  remained 
no  strong  man  or  character  in  the  Imperial  Family.  The 
new  heir  was  not  of  the  stuff  that  heroes,  or  even  men  of 
initiative,  are  made.  He  was  a  perfect  example  of  that 
obedience  in  which  the  Habsburgs  are  reared  in  regard 
to  the  head  of  their  house,  an  obedience  which  never  dares 
to  question  any  of  the  decisions  which  it  pleases  the  latter 
to  make.     His  wife,  pretty,  insignificant,  and  admirably 

85 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

brought  up,  had  neither  inclination  nor  desire  to  keep 
herself  in  touch  with  what  was  going  on  in  the  political 
world.  She  was  timid  and  stood  in  great  awe  both  of 
her  mother-in-law,  the  Archduchess  Marie  Josepha,  and 
of  the  Archduchess  Marie  Therese. 

Zita  of  Bourbon  Parma,  it  is  to  be  feared,  will  never 
assert  herself  otherwise  than  in  matters  of  pure  etiquette 
and,  perhaps,  of  fashion.  Her  husband  has,  up  to  now, 
faithfully  performed  the  duties  of  his  new  position,  and 
whenever  he  has  been  at  the  front  to  review  the  troops, 
by  order  of  his  uncle,  he  has  smiled  when  it  was  necessary, 
pitied  when  sympathy  was  expected  of  him,  and  made 
himself  generallj^  agreeable.  He  has  not  inspired  any 
enthusiasm  in  the  soldiers  he  had  been  told  to  encourage. 
Nevertheless  he  always  returned  full  of  the  conviction 
that  he  had  done  so,  his  ears  not  being  sufficiently  trained 
yet  to  observe  the  difference  between  an  official  and  a 
heart-spoken  "  Hurrah !" 


86 


CHAPTER   V 

THE   PERSONAL   FRIENDS   OF   FRANCIS   JOSEPH 

nr^HE  popular  saying  that  Sovereigns  cannot  often  find 
-■-  disinterested  friends  could  not  be  better  applied  than 
in  the  case  of  the  present  Austrian  Emperor.  During  the 
whole  of  his  reign  he  has  found  hardly  any  disinterested 
friends.  He  did  not  suffer  from  this,  as  his  was  not  a 
nature  that  craved  for  companionship,  and  he  had  no  real 
secrets  to  share  with  anyone.  When  he  had  been  young 
and  handsome  women  had  smiled  on  him,  and  he  had 
accepted  it  with  that  perfect  equanimity  and  conviction 
of  his  own  merits  which  has  never  left  him.  He  had  liked 
his  youngest  brother,  the  Archduke  Louis  Victor,  whose 
tastes  resembled  his  own,  and  in  whose  companionship, 
in  spite  of  the  great  difference  of  age  that  existed  between 
them,  he  had  indulged  in  the  spasmodic  outbursts  to  which 
he  was  inclined. 

The  Archduke  Louis  was  far  cleverer  than  the 
Emperor,  and  he  had  contrived  to  acquire  over  Francis 
Joseph  a  certain  influence  which  had  caused  him  to  be 
considered  as  an  important  personage  in  the  State.  But 
he  never  could  get  on  with  the  great  favourite  of  the 
Emperor,  Prince  Alfred  von  Montenuovo,  who  very  soon 

managed  to  get  him  out  of  the  way.    This  was  not  dif!i- 

87 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

cult  to  do,  as  it  was  quite  sufficient  to  say  to  Francis 
Joseph  that  the  Archduke  aspired  to  become  a  social  and 
political  power,  to  make  him  desirous  of  getting  rid  of 
him.  It  began  to  be  whispered  in  Court  circles  that 
Louis  Victor  had  contracted  unmentionable  habits,  and 
these  rumours  reached  the  ears  of  Francis  Joseph  in  some 
apparently  inexplicable  manner,  which,  however,  was  not 
difficult  to  trace  by  any  who  knew  the  ins  and  the  outs  of 
the  inner  life  of  the  Hofburg.  The  result  was  that  the 
Archduke  received  orders  to  repair  to  the  castle  of  Kleis- 
heim,  near  Salzbourg,  where  he  is  still  kept  under  severe 
control  on  the  pretext  of  not  being  quite  right  in  his  mind. 
This  procedure  is  a  favourite  resource  with  the  Habsburgs 
whenever  they  wish  to  put  out  of  their  way  anyone  whom 
they  consider  either  a  nuisance  or  likely  to  cause  them 
some  annoyance. 

With  the  disappearance  of  Louis  Victor  the  last  link 
between  the  Emperor  and  the  outside  world  was  broken. 
From  the  day  that  his  brother  passed  into  exile,  the  only 
two  people  who  could  have  free  access  to  him  were  his 
old  aide-de-camp.  General  Count  Faar,  who  is  perhaps 
the  only  man  in  the  whole  of  Austria  who  loves  his 
Sovereign  truly  and  sincerely,  and  whose  devotion  to  him 
has  never  varied.  The  other  one  is  the  Grand  Master  of 
his  Household,  Prince  Alfred  of  Montenuovo,  who  by 
judicious  flattery  has  implanted  himself  so  firmly  at  the 
Hofburg  that  it  is  hardly  likely  he  will  be  dismissed 
while  Francis  Joseph  lives. 

The  Prince's  influence  is  the  most  dominant  factor  at 


Influence  of  Prince  von  Montenuovo 

Court,  and  he  uses  it  freely.  Unkind  people  say  that  his 
own  ambitions  are  never  lost  sight  of.  Even  the  Arch- 
dukes dread  him  and  try  to  propitiate  him,  and  whenever 
one  among  them  has  attempted  to  stand  in  his  way  he 
has  invariably  regretted  it  afterwards.  The  Archduchess 
Marie  Valerie  abominates  Prince  von  Montenuovo,  but 
nevertheless  has  so  far  failed  in  the  repeated  efforts  she 
has  made  to  show  to  her  father  that  his  favourite  is  in 
no  way  worthy  of  the  kindness  he  has  received.  Her 
antagonism  against  the  Prince  is  so  strong  that,  as  a 
penalty  for  the  animosity  which  she  displayed  in  regard 
to  the  one  man  at  the  Hofburg  whose  orders  no  one  ever 
disputes,  she  was  very  nearly  deprived  of  part  of  the 
allowance  which  Francis  Joseph  makes  to  her  out  of  his 
private  purse. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  explain  how  the  Prince, 
who  is  much  younger  than  the  Emperor,  has  contrived  to 
acquire  such  an  empire  over  Francis  Joseph.  Some  kind- 
hearted  souls  have  been  found  to  hint  that  the  secret  of 
this  affection  borne  by  Francis  Joseph  for  the  Prince  has 
its  origin  in  the  one  which  in  a  distant  past  he  had  nursed 
for  the  latter 's  mother,  a  Countess  Batthyany  by  birth, 
who  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  loveliest 
women  of  her  generation.  But  honesty  compels  one  to 
say  that  nothing  stronger  than  pure  friendship  ever 
existed  between  them.  On  the  other  hand,  her  husband, 
William  of  Montenuovo,  who  by  reason  of  his  relationship 
with  the  Imperial  family,  through  his  mother,  Marie 
Louise,  the  widow  of  Napoleon,  had  been  admitted  into 

89 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

the  companionship  of  the  sons  of  the  Archduchess  Sophy 
when  these  were  but  small  boys,  and  was  strong  in  their 
favour.  He  was  indeed  a  pleasant  man,  and  a  great 
favourite  in  Vienna  society  until  the  illness  which  struck 
him  a  few  years  before  his  death,  and  which  obliged  him 
to  retire  from  the  v/orld.  When  the  Emperor  ascended 
the  throne  he  continued  his  friendship  with  this  mor- 
ganatic cousin  of  his,  and  conferred  upon  him  the  title 
of  Prince  with  that  of  Serene  Highness,  appointing 
him  at  the  same  time  commander-in-chief  of  the  Traban 
guards,  one  of  the  highest  distinctions  of  the  Vienna 
Court.  Still,  though  he  was  on  terms  of  great  intimacy 
with  him,  and  though  their  ages,  which  were  about  the 
same,  ought  to  have  been  a  link  between  them,  he 
never  exercised  a  real  influence  on  the  Emperor ;  and 
though  he  was  considered  to  be  a  personal  friend  of  his, 
he  never  enjoyed  his  entire  confidence,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  present  Prince  Alfred,  from  whom  his  Imperial 
master  has  no  secrets — perhaps  because  the  latter  would 
never  allow  him  to  keep  any. 

It  was  thought  at  one  time  that  Frau  Catherine 
Schratt,  the  only  feminine  friend  which  the  Emperor  has 
at  present,  and  who  for  more  years  than  one  would  care 
to  count  has  occupied  the  position  of  his  chief  adviser, 
was  the  great  power  that  protected  the  Grand  Master  of 
the  Household ;  but  those  in  the  secrets  of  the  gods,  and 
able  to  know  all  that  goes  on  in  the  Hofburg,  are  sure 
that  far  from  this  being  the  case,  if  Frau  Schratt  could 
have  had  her  own  way  Prince  von  Montenuovo  would  have 

90 


Montenuovo  and  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria 

been  dismissed  long  ago.  The  mystery  remains  therefore 
quite  unexplainable.  But  whatever  may  be  the  reason 
for  the  immense  influence  exercised  by  the  favourite  of 
the  Emperor,  there  is  no  gainsaying  that  it  is  a  very  real 
one,  and  that  it  is  not  likely  it  will  be  damaged  or 
shaken,  so  long  as  Francis  Joseph  remains  in  the  land  of 
the  living. 

Prince  von  Montenuovo  belongs  to  that  happy  class 
of  people  who  believe  themselves  not  only  clever,  but 
also  able  to  lead  the  world  according  to  their  personal 
likes  or  dislikes.  He  makes  a  point  of  interviewing  the 
Ministers  of  the  Crown,  to  ascertain  their  plans  and  in- 
tentions before  he  allows  them  to  present  themselves 
before  the  Emperor.  It  was  reported  that  he  was  one  of 
the  greatest  friends  that  Count  Aerenthal  had  contrived 
to  win  for  himself,  and  that  it  was  owing  to  his  protection 
that  this  unscrupulous  politician  had  succeeded  in  con- 
verting the  Sovereign  to  the  policy  which  he  had 
inaugurated  as  soon  as  the  foreign  affairs  of  the  Austrian 
Empire  had  been  entrusted  into  his  care. 

Prince  von  Montenuovo  hated  Russia,  and  had  always 

been  a  strong  partisan  of  an  alliance  with  Germany  that 

might  have  enabled  the  former  country  to  be  definitely 

banished  from  the  Balkans,  and  superseded  by  Austria 

allied  to   Bulgaria.     He  had  been   at  school   with  the 

present  King  of  that  realm,  and  the  sly  Ferdinand  of 

Coburg  had  taken  good  care  to  remain  upon  good  terms 

with  a  man  through  whom  he  could  obtain  many  an  object 

it  woTild  otherwise  have  been  impossible  to  reach. 

9i 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

During  the  whole  time  that  the  last  Balkan  war 
lasted,  it  was  related  that  a  weekly  messenger  travelled 
between  Sofia  and  Vienna,  and  carried  to  Prince  von 
Montenuovo  news  from  his  friend  the  King  of  Bulgaria. 
They  were  both  lovers  of  intrigue,  no  matter  in  what 
shape  and  form,  and  thej^  both  understood  to  perfection 
how  to  carry  them  on  with  ease  and  secrecy  at  the  same 
time.  Russian  diplomats  in  their  guilelessness  never 
suspected  the  game  that  was  being  played  on  the  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea  and  amidst  the  roses  which  bloom  in  the 
gardens  of  Euxinograd,  the  fairyhke  palace  which  the 
Coburg  Prince  has  built  for  himself  in  view  of  the  dark 
waters  of  the  old  Pont  Euxin.  They  never  guessed  that 
one  of  the  biggest  conspiracies  that  has  ever  been  hatched 
by  one  nation  against  another  was  being  planned  under 
their  very  eyes,  and  that  its  principal  leaders  were  resid- 
ing at  Vienna,  living  in  close  intercourse  with  the  old 
and  unscrupulous  Monarch  who  ruled  there. 

The  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  and  Prince  von 
Montenuovo  had  always  been  upon  the  worst  possible 
terms.  The  heir  to  the  throne  could  not  stand  the  over- 
bearing tone  and  manners  of  the  Austrian  nobleman,  and 
on  more  occasions  than  one  Ferdinand  had  made  him 
feel  that  when  he  succeeded  to  the  throne,  he  would  re- 
member the  injuries  which  he  had  been  obliged  to  put  up 
with  whilst  he  had  not  possessed  the  power  to  avenge 
them. 

On  his  side  the  Prince  had  taken  advantage  of  every 

possible  occasion  to  humiliate  the  Duchess  of  Hohenberg, 

92 


A  Court  Episode 

and  it  was  a  current  story  in  Vienna  that  one  day,  at  some 
Court  festivity,  seeing  her  not  in  her  proper  precedence, 
he  had  sent  a  chamberlain  to  her  with  the  request  to  move 
down  to  her  right  place.  After  this  episode  the  consort 
of  the  Archduke  had  asked  the  Emperor  to  excuse  her 
from  appearing  at  the  usual  Sunday  family  dinners,  to 
which  she  was  generally  asked,  together  with  her  husband. 
This  adventure,  which  caused  an  immense  sensation,  led 
to  the  Duchess  being  awarded  a  special  rank  that  at  least 
put  her  out  of  the  reach  of  such  gratuitous  insults ;  but 
the  remembrance  always  rankled  in  her  heart,  and  she 
made  no  secret  of  the  fact  that  she  intensely  disliked  the 
Grand  Master  of  the  Imperial  Household,  and  that  when 
she  was  in  a  position  to  do  so  she  would  repay  him  with 
usury  for  all  the  unpleasantnesses  which  he  had  caused 
her. 

It  is  difficult  to  foresee  how  this  antagonism  would 
have  ended  had  not  the  catastrophe  of  Sarajevo  occurred, 
and  removed  with  one  blow  the  two  great  enemies  of 
Prince  Alfred  of  Montenuovo.  Anyone  but  himself 
would  have  felt  all  his  former  resentments  melt  before 
such  a  terrible  and  unforeseen  misfortune ;  but  if  the 
story  can  be  believed,  it  is  said  that  the  Prince  at  once 
put  forward  all  the  exigencies  of  an  etiquette  which  no 
one  but  himself  would  have  ever  remembered,  and  in- 
sisted on  the  funeral  of  the  two  victims  of  this  tragedy 
being  conducted  in  a  manner  which  was  a  disgrace. 
Under  the  pretence  that  the  Duchess  of  Hohenberg 
could  not  be  treated  as  a  member  of  the  Imperial  family, 

93 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

he  refused  to  Francis  Ferdinand  the  post-mortem  honours 
to  which  an  Archduke  was  entitled,  declaring  that  as  it 
was  hardly  possible  to  bury  him  anywhere  else  and  at 
another  time  than  the  devoted  wife  who  had  shared  his 
fate,  he  would  have  also  to  be  laid  to  rest  with  as  much 
haste  and  as  little  ceremony  as  possible. 

Even  the  intimate  friends  of  the  murdered  couple  were 
refused  the  permission  to  render  to  them  the  last  homage 
that  they  could  perform  in  regard  to  their  persons. 

The  Emperor  William  II.,  who  had  at  first  wished  to 
assist  at  the  funeral  ceremony,  was  informed  that  it  was 
preferable  that  he  should  abstain  from  doing  so.  The 
two  coffins  were  taken  to  a  distant  estate  of  the  Arch- 
duke, where  scarcely  anyone  was  allowed  to  be  present. 
Even  the  children  of  the  Archduke  were  prevented  from 
witnessing  the  funeral  of  their  father  and  mother. 

For  once  the  Viennese  aristocracy  revolted  against 
this  decision,  and  the  friends  of  the  late  Archduke  signed 
a  protest  which  thej^  presented  to  the  Emperor. 

Prince  von  Montenuovo  is  married  to  a  very  pretty 
woman,  a  Countess  Kinsky  by  birth,  who  at  the  time  she 
was  wedded  to  him  was  considered  the  most  beautiful 
girl  of  her  day.  She  is  amiable  too,  very  popular  among 
a  certain  small  set,  but  not  liked  in  general  society,  as  she 
is  too  exclusive  in  her  personal  acquaintances.  The 
Prince  and  Princess  are  rich,  but  do  not  care  for  enter- 
taining. 

General  Count  Paar  is  a  very  different  man  from 

Prince  Montenuovo.    He  is  a  type  of  an  old  soldier  who 

94 


General  Count  Paar 

knows  nothing  beyond  his  duty,  and  who  performs 
it  with  zeal  and  with  accuracy.  For  something  Kke  fifty 
years  he  has  never  left  the  Emperor,  and  it  is  upon  him 
that  has  devolved  generally  the  sad  mission  to  acquaint 
Francis  Joseph  of  the  various  family  misfortunes  which 
have  fallen  to  that  Monarch's  lot.  When  the  Empress 
was  murdered  at  Geneva,  the  first  news  of  the  crime  was 
brought  to  Count  Paar.  When  the  drama  of  Sarajevo 
took  place,  it  was  again  on  Count  Paar  that  fell  the 
obligation  to  break  the  news  to  his  Imperial  master. 
Whenever  any  sorrow  has  overtaken  the  House  of 
Habsburg,  the  faithful  old  soldier  has  been  there  to  bear 
its  first  shock,  and  to  try  to  lighten  it  for  the  one  on  whom 
it  was  to  fall.  He  really  loves  Francis  Joseph,  of  that 
there  is  no  doubt ;  he  loves  him  and  he  is  devoted  to  him 
body  and  soul,  and  very  probably  if  he  survives  him  it  wuU 
not  be  for  long.  The  aged  servant  will  soon  find  a  resting- 
place  not  far  from  the  Sovereign  at  whose  side  nearly  his 
whole  life  has  been  spent. 

In  Vienna,  where  the  General  is  a  familiar  figure, 
everybody  knows  and  respects  him ;  and  he  is  a  popular 
personage  even  among  the  street  urchins  that  gather 
round  him  when  they  see  him  take  his  morning  walk  in 
the  Prater,  w^here  until  lately  he  used  to  ride  a  big  chestnut 
mare,  almost  as  old  as  himself.  He  has  always  a 
pleasant  word  for  those  he  speaks  to,  and  he  has  never 
used  the  incontestable  influence  which  he  wields  on  his 
Sovereign  otherwise  than  to  do  good  wherever  he  could. 

Intrigue  is  unknown  to  him.    He  does  not  care  for  Prince 

95 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

von  Montenuovo.  In  reality  Count  Paar  is  perfectly 
aware  that,  should  it  come  to  a  struggle  between  them, 
it  is  not  he  who  would  win,  and  he  is  so  attached  to  Francis 
Joseph  that  he  puts  up  with  many  things  simply  in  order 
to  be  allowed  to  remain  with  the  old  man. 

Another  man  with  whom  the  Emperor  was  upon 
terms  of  true  intimacy  was  the  late  King  Albert  of 
Saxony.  The  friendship  began  at  the  time  when  Albert 
was  still  Crown  Prince  and  had  just  won  for  his  wife  the 
Princess  Caroline  of  Wasa.  The  couple  had  spent  some 
weeks  at  Vienna,  and  Albert  being  about  the  same  age  as 
the  Emperor,  Francis  Joseph  had  allowed  himself  to  be 
drawn  into  friendship. 

Albert  of  Saxony  was  more  than  once  called  upon 
to  smooth  differences  between  Francis  Joseph  and  the 
Empress  Elisabeth,  and  he  had  contrived  to  remain 
on  good  terms  with  both  of  them,  which  was  rather 
an  achievement  considering  their  characters.  King 
Albert  himself  had  always  been  the  best  of  husbands,  but 
he  was  also  a  man  of  the  world,  who  knew  how  to  speak 
the  language  of  the  world,  and  how  to  appeal  to  the  feel- 
ings of  an  angry,  passionate  woman.  Elisabeth  grew  to 
like  him  and  to  confide  in  him  too.  After  her  death 
he  was  the  only  one  among  all  the  royal  personages  who 
had  arrived  in  Vienna  for  her  obsequies  who  was  admitted 
into  the  presence  of  the  Emperor  and  allowed  to  express 
to  him  his  horror  at  the  dastardly  crimj  which  had  put  an 
end  so  brutally  to  the  existence  of  one  of  the  noblest 

women  who  had  ever  lived. 

96 


King  Albert  of  Saxony 

Apart  from  his  influence  in  the  family  affairs  of  the 
Austrian  Imperial  couple,  the  King  of  Saxony  played  a 
considerable  part  in  the  submission  of  Austria  to  the 
views  of  Germany.  Prince  Bismarck,  at  the  time  when 
he  had  been  dreaming  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  had  already 
taken  advantage  of  the  good  offices  of  King  Albert  to 
preach  its  necessity  to  Francis  Joseph.  The  King  was 
entirely  German  in  his  opinions,  and,  especially  after  the 
war  of  1870,  had  accepted  his  position  as  vassal  of  the  new- 
German  Empire  with  that  thoroughness  which  he  brought 
into  everything  that  he  did.  He  was  extremely  respected, 
and  his  sound  judgment  carried  a  great  deal  of  weight 
along  with  it. 

Without  being  brilliant  King  Albert  had  a  clear 
head,  common  sense,  and  a  keen  appreciation  of  the 
necessities  of  the  moment,  which,  if  he  had  been  less 
highly  principled,  might  even  have  been  called  by  the 
name  of  opportunism.  He  admired  Prince  Bismarck  a 
great  deal,  the  German  army  even  more,  and  William  I. 
above  everybody  else.  His  personality  w^as  one  of  the 
principal  influences  in  bringing  about  the  German  rap- 
prochevient  with  Austria  which,  entirely  superficial  at 
first,  was  to  become  with  time  so  strong  that  the  states- 
men who  ruled  at  the  Ball  Platz  became  dependent  for 
their  inspirations  on  the  Wilhelmstrasse,  and  followed  its 
lead  rather  than  their  own  immediate  interests. 

The  great  triumph  of  the  King  of  Saxony  was  to 
make  friends  wherever  he  went,  and  to  convince  all  whom 
he  wanted  to  win  to  his  side  of  the  soundness  of  his  judg- 
H  97 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

ments  of  people  as  well  as  of  facts.  Even  Prince  von 
Montenuovo  had  to  succumb  to  his  personalitj'-,  and  to 
promise  him  to  use  his  influence  over  the  Emperor  in 
favour  of  the  polic}^  which  Albert  outlined. 

The  Saxon  Monarch  had  a  grudge  against  Russia 
dating  from  the  time  of  the  war  of  1866.  When  it  had 
broken  out  the  Court  of  Dresden  had  sounded  the  Cabinet 
of  Petersburg  as  to  the  possibility^  of  an  intervention 
in  its  favour,  and  had  met  with  an  absolute  refusal. 
Tsar  Alexander  II.  professed  such  a  great  affection  for 
his  Prussian  relatives  that  he  would  not  hear  of  doing  any- 
thing which  might  prevent  the  triumph  of  the  troops 
commanded  b}^  his  uncle  of  Berlin.  On  the  contrary  he 
gave  the  latter  all  the  diplomatic  and  political  support  he 
could.  Perhaps  Alexander  was  not  over-sorry  to  see 
humiliated  and  defeated  that  imgrateful  Austria  which 
had  played  his  father  false  during  the  Crimean  War. 
The  entreaties  of  the  Saxon  Government  left  him  abso- 
lutely unmoved,  which  was  perhaps  one  of  the  greatest 
political  mistakes  of  his  reign,  because  the  consequences 
of  a  Russian  intervention  after  Sadowa,  not  perhaps  in 
favour  of  Austria,  but  in  that  of  the  other  confederated 
German  Governments,  might  have  changed  the  whole 
future  course  of  history. 

King  Albert  of  Saxony,  though  he  had  become  con- 
verted to  the  idea  of  the  Prussian  supremacy  over  the 
whole  of  Germany,  had  neither  forgotten  nor  forgiven 
the  rebuff  which  his  own  country  had  received  at  the 

hands  of  Russia,  and  it  had  a  lot  to  do  with  the  ardour 

98 


Always  a  Habsburg 

with  which  he  threw  himself  into  the  plans  of  Bismarck 
and  worked  towards  entangling  Austria  too  into  its  in- 
tricacies. In  that  respect  he  played  an  immense  part  in 
the  close  union  which  afterwards  drew  the  two  Empires 
together. 

With  the  death  of  the  King,  the  best  royal  friend  of 
Francis  Joseph  disappeared.  The  old  Monarch  was  left 
entirely  dependent  upon  his  own  resources  and  the  counsel 
of  the  few  people  whom  he  allowed  an  entrance  into  the 
intimacy  of  his  private  life.  He  submitted  to  the  will  of 
Prince  von  Montenuovo,  but  he  always  treated  him  as 
someone  infinitely  below  him,  and  even  with  Frau 
Schratt  he  did  not  depart  from  his  attitude  of  Sovereign, 
even  when  he  posed  as  a  good  old  man  on  a  visit  to  a  friend 
of  many  years'  standing.  Francis  Joseph  had  occasionally 
forgotten  the  promises  which  he  had  made,  the  duties 
which  he  had  assumed,  and  the  obligations  entailed  upon 
him  by  his  high  state,  but  he  always  remembered  that  he 
was  a  Habsburg ;  he  had  found  it  the  most  useful  thing 
in  the  world,  and  one  which  allowed  him  to  shirk  with 
utter  unconcern  many  of  the  responsibilities  that  rightly 
speaking  were  his. 

Francis  Joseph  has  ever  been  incapable  of  any  great 
political  conception,  and  therefore  it  became  relatively 
easy  for  a  man  like  the  present  German  Emperor  to  over- 
ride him.  Under  the  pretext  of  showing  continual 
deference  to  the  friend  of  his  grandfather,  William  II. 
kept  himself  in  close  touch  w^th   Francis  Joseph,   and 

never  missed  any  opportunity  to  see  him  personally  and 

99 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

to  exchange  with  him  letters  which,  though  often  merely 
missives  of  politeness,  yet  always  contained  something 
to  give  to  them  more  importance  than  would  have 
seemed  at  first  sight.  He  cultivated  the  society  of  the 
aged  Austrian  Monarch,  bore  with  him,  endured  his  con- 
versation, and  treated  him  with  just  that  tinge  of  respect 
which,  coming  from  a  personage  whose  position  was  as 
exalted  as  his  own,  conveyed  by  its  expression  a  most 
delicate  flattery,  certain  to  appeal  to  the  vanity  of  the 
person  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 

William  II.  did  something  more  than  this.  He  took 
great  care  to  keep  as  his  Ambassador  at  the  Austrian 
Court  a  man  in  possession  of  his  entire  confidence,  who 
could  work  toward  the  maintenance  of  these  good  rela- 
tions from  which  he  hoped  to  obtain  so  many  benefits  in 
the  future.  For  a  long  time  that  post  was  occupied  by 
Prince  Eulenburg,  the  hero  of  the  sad  scandal  which 
caused  such  a  sensation  a  few  years  ago,  and  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  men  in  the  German  diplomatic  service. 

When  the  question  arose  as  to  who  should  become 

the   successor   of   Eulenburg,   it   was   again   a  favourite 

of  the  Emperor  who  was  sent,  Herr  von  Tschirsky-Bogen- 

dorff,  a  man  whose  personal  appearance  did  not  in  the 

least   correspond   to   his   intellectual   and   moral   worth, 

because  he  was  one  of  the  nicest  men  imaginable,  and  no 

one  meeting  him  for  the  first  time  could  imagine  him 

capable  of  directing  the  whole  intrigue  which  after  the 

murder  of  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  was  to  bring 

about  the  war  for  which  the  German  Empire  had  been 

100 


Herr  von  Tschirsky 

so  steadily  preparing  itself  for  so  many  years,  but  for 
which  it  had  never  been  able  to  find  an  earlier  pretext. 

The  advent  at  Vienna  of  Herr  von  Tschirsky  gave  a 
new  activity  to  Austrian  politics.  He  was  a  great  friend 
of  Count  Aerenthal,  of  whom  he  had  been  the  colleague 
in  Petersburg,  and  he  suggested  to  him  most  of  the  steps 
which  made  the  tenure  of  office  of  the  latter  personage  so 
sadly  memorable.  After  his  death,  and  the  appointment 
of  Count  Berchtold  in  his  place,  the  relations  of  the 
German  Embassy  with  the  Ball  Platz  became  cooler.  Its 
new  head  was  upon  good  terms  with  M.  Izvolsky,  then 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  in  Russia,  and  he  tried 
honestly  to  come  to  some  arrangement  with  the  latter 
concerning  the  everlasting  Near  Eastern  question,  which 
was  always  the  one  weak  and  dangerous  spot  in  the 
general  European  situation.  For  a  short  time  it  had 
seemed  as  if  the  efforts  of  the  Count  in  that  direction  were 
about  to  be  successful ;  then  came  all  the  difficulties  which 
developed  in  quick  succession  during  the  two  Balkan 
wars,  and  at  last  the  tragedy  which  gave  a  free  field  to 
the  intrigues  of  the  German  Ambassador,  and  led  to  the 
great  final  catastrophe. 

When  it  occurred  Francis  Joseph  was  thrown  entirely 
on  the  Emperor  William  II.  for  support,  and  left  at  the 
latter 's  mercy.  Can  one  wonder  that  under  such  circum- 
stances he  drifted  toward  the  deep  ocean  in  which  the 
iVustrian  Empire,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  result  of 
the  war,  is  bound  to  perish? 


101 


CHAPTER  VI 

FRAU  CATHERINE  SCHRATT  AND  THE  EMPEROR 'S 
FRIENDSHIPS 

A  GREAT  deal  has  been  written  in  Austria,  and 
spoken  in  Vienna,  about  the  former  actress  of  the 
Burg  Theatre,  Frau  Catherine  Schratt,  with  whom  the 
Emperor  is  supposed  to  be,  even  at  this  time,  in  most 
intimate  relations.  This  last  piece  of  gossip  must  be 
accepted  with  a  considerable  grain  of  salt,  if  one  takes 
into  account  the  advanced  age  of  the  two  persons  con- 
cerned. After  all,  the  Emperor  is  eighty-five  and  Frau 
Schratt  sixty,  if  not  older. 

But  it  is  not  a  calumny  to  suppose  that  there  was  a 
time  when  Frau  Schratt  was  something  more  to  the  Em- 
peror than  a  platonic  friend,  and  she  has  succeeded  in 
keeping  a  firm  hold  upon  her  lover  of  former  times — a 
feat  the  more  wonderful  in  that  the  Sovereign  was  never 
famous  for  his  constancy. 

It  would  be  almost  impossible  to  recall  all  the  love 
affairs  which  the  Emperor  has  had.  When  he  was  young, 
and  before  his  marriage,  there  was  hardly  any  pretty 
woman  in  Vienna  who  had  not  seen  him  at  her  feet  for 
a  longer  or  for  a  shorter  time.  The  Archduchess  Sophy 
had  rather  encouraged  her  son's  excursions  into  the  for- 

102 


Francis  Joseph  and  His  Mother 

bidden  land  where  every  young  man  likes  to  wander, 
hoping  thus  to  divert  his  attention  from  politics,  the 
control  of  which  she  preferred  to  keep  in  her  own  hands. 
She  had  very  quickly,  however,  come  to  the  conclusion 
that,  in  love  or  not,  the  Emperor  did  not  in  the  least 
mean  to  abandon  one  iota  of  the  supreme  power,  and 
that,  above  everything  else,  he  did  not  mean  his  mother 
to  be  able  to  boast  that  it  was  she  who  influenced  or  led 
the  affairs  of  the  State.  This  was  a  source  of  great  dis- 
appointment to  her,  and  it  made  her  turn  her  attention 
toward  arranging  a  marriage  for  the  young  Monarch. 

As  we  have  seen,  she  was  quite  successful  in  this 
last  enterprise,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  her  son 
lead  her  own  niece  to  the  altar.  The  pleasure  which  the 
fact  afforded  to  her,  however,  was  not  to  be  long-lived. 
The  newly  wedded  Empress  did  not  get  on  with  her 
mother-in-law ;  whilst  the  latter,  for  her  part,  did  much 
to  make  the  Empress's  life  unbearable.  The  Archduchess 
was  one  of  those  eighteenth-century  Princesses  bred  to 
shut  their  eyes  on  what  was  going  on  around  them. 

Elisabeth  had  been  really  in  love  with  the  Emperor, 
and  she  had  honestly  believed  that  his  passion  for  her 
would  be  a  lasting  one.  When,  therefore,  she  discovered, 
a  few  weeks  after  her  marriage,  that  he  was  already  sigh- 
ing at  the  feet  of  a  Polish  countess  who  had  attracted  his 
fancy,  she  considered  her  husband's  fickleness,  not  with- 
out reason,  in  the  light  of  the  greatest  insult  which  could 
have  been  offered  to  her,  and  allowed  Francis  Joseph  to 

notice  the  state  of  her  feelings  in  regard  to  him. 

103 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

The  Emperor,  in  spite  of  his  want  of  susceptibiHty, 
felt  hurt,  and  his  vanity  suffered  far  more  than  his  heart. 
He  said  nothing,  but  neglected  the  Empress  more  and 
more. 

The  infatuation  of  Francis  Joseph  for  the  Polish 
countess  did  not  last  longer  than  a  few  months.  Then 
he  turned  his  attention  once  more  to  the  different  young 
actresses,  at  the  Burg  Theatre  and  elsewhere,  who  were 
conspicuous  by  their  beauty  or  attractions.  Nearly  all 
were  honoured  with  his  fancy,  and  his  private  valet,  a 
Tyrolean  Jiiger — who  was  the  only  confidant  of  his 
master's  different  "  escapades  " — was  kept  very  busy. 

It  was  this  man  who  had  to  escort  the  ladies  to  the 
Hofburg  by  one  of  the  back  doors,  and  who  brought  them 
back  safely  to  their  various  homes.  His  discretion  was 
absolute,  and  quite  equalled  that  of  Bontemps  and 
Lebel,  the  famous  valets  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis  XV. 
Actresses  and  noble  ladies  belonging  to  the  highest  circles 
of  the  Austrian  aristocracy  vied  with  each  other  for  the 
favours  of  Francis  Joseph,  and  none  of  them  ever 
succeeded  in  establishing  herself  in  his  heart  so  solidly 
that  he  thought  no  longer  about  giving  her  a  rival. 

This  was  only  achieved  by  a  woman  who  could  boast 

neither  of  ancestry  nor  position,   neither  of  talent  nor 

transcendent  beauty.     As  an  actress  she  had  appeared  at 

the  Burg  Theatre,  but  she  attracted  no  notice  there  save 

that  of  Francis  Joseph,  who  took  a  violent  liking  for 

her  almost  immediately  for  her  frank,  open  expression, 

beautiful  eyes,  and  pleasant  mouth  and  smile.     He  felt 

104 


First  Meeting  with  Frau  Schratt 

sure  that,  like  so  many  others,  she  would  instantly  fall 
into  his  arms  and  consider  herself  as  most  honoured  at 
having  found  favour  with  him.  To  his  surprise  he  dis- 
covered that  he  had  made  a  great  mistake. 

Catherine  Schratt  was  an  honest  girl,  with  a  keen  sense 
of  right  and  wrong,  and  indifferent  to  what  would  have 
been  considered  by  many  of  her  profession  as  the  highest 
honour.  When  it  was  hinted  to  her  that  the  Sovereign 
would  like  to  see  her  otherwise  than  upon  the  stage,  she 
began  by  declaring  that  she  did  not  quite  see  how  this 
could  be  managed,  because  she  was  not  living  in  conditions 
that  allowed  her  to  receive  him  in  her  own  house,  and 
meeting  him  clandestinely  anywhere  was  out  of  the 
question. 

The  reply  was  repeated  to  the  Emperor,  and  greatly 
excited  his  curiosity. 

One  afternoon  while  sitting  at  home  Catherine  was 
surprised  to  see  a  tall  officer  thrusting  himself  into  her 
presence.  It  was  Francis  Joseph,  who,  seeing  that  the 
mountain  would  not  come  to  Mahomet,  had  thought  it 
was  high  time  Mahomet  should  seek  the  moimtain. 

This  visit  was  the  prelude  to  many  others,  and  little 
by  little  the  Monarch  got  into  the  habit  of  seeing  every 
daj'^  the  lady  whose  friendship  had  been  so  difficult  to 
win.  She  proved  very  tactful,  never  asking  him  for  any- 
thing, accepting  his  numerous  gifts  with  extreme  reserve, 
not  troubling  to  put  any  questions  to  him,  and  showing 
perfect  disinterestedness  in  all  her  relations  with  him. 
She  was  very  clever  in  private  life,  though  she  had  not 

105 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

shown  any  particular  ability  on  the  stage — a  career  she 
had  entered  upon  only  out  of  necessity — and  her  gentle, 
soft  manners,  keen  sympathy  and  general  understanding 
of  the  difficulties  of  a  position  which  soon  became  almost 
unique,  won  for  her  as  much  affection  from  Francis 
Joseph  as  his  selfish  heart  could  give. 

A  curious  thing  must  be  added  here  which  may 
astonish  many  people,  but  which  is  none  the  less  fact. 
The  Empress,  who  soon  became  aware  of  her  husband's 
new  infatuation — as  she  always  did  all  those  he  indulged 
in — had  the  curiosity  to  see  Frau  Schratt,  and  actually 
called  upon  her  one  day.  The  impression  she  pro- 
duced upon  her  must  have  been  most  favourable,  because 
from  that  day  Elisabeth  was  the  first  one  to  encourage 
the  Emperor  in  his  sympathy  for  the  actress,  whose 
influence  proved  on  more  than  one  occasion  most  useful 
to  her. 

Catherine  Schratt  was  full  of  admiration  for  the 
Imperial  lady,  and  applied  herself  to  remove  as  many 
of  the  causes  of  disagreement  between  Francis  Joseph 
and  his  consort  as  she  could.  Yet  she  never  meddled 
with  intrigue,  was  neither  mercenary  nor  callous,  refused 
nine  of  every  ten  presents  which  were  offered  to  her, 
and  whenever  she  was  called  upon  to  give  her  opinion 
to  the  Emperor,  she  did  so  with  strong  common  sense 
and  keen  intelligence.  She  was  a  remarkable  person 
from  more  points  of  view  than  one,  and  soon  she  be- 
came such  a  power  in  the  land  that  even  Prince  von 

Montenuovo,  who  easily  got  rid  of  most  of  the  people 

106 


Frau  Schratt  and  Montenuovo 

whom  he  disliked,  found  that  in  her  case  he  had  better 
keep  quiet,  and  even  try  to  propitiate  her. 

This,  however,  did  not  prove  easy.  Had  Frau  Schratt 
only  cared  to  do  so,  she  could  with  the  greatest  facility 
have  influenced  her  Imperial  friend  against  this  overbear- 
ing, insolent  favourite  who  was  so  generally  disliked.  But 
this  was  one  of  the  matters  she  had  promised  herself 
never  to  interfere  with.  She  did  not  care  for  people 
to  say  that  she  could  at  her  will  remove  public  function- 
aries, and  she  never  allowed  anyone  to  guess  that  she 
shared  the  universal  feelings  of  antipathy  which  Viennese 
society  nursed  for  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Imperial 
Household.  She  was  a  woman  who  liked  plain  speaking, 
and  it  is  related  that  she  had  found  an  opportunity  to  tell 
the  Prince  that  she  expected  him  to  leave  her  alone, 
while  in  return  for  this  she  promised  that  she  would  not 
molest  him  in  any  way,  and  would  refrain  from  ever 
expressing  any  judgment  in  regard  to  him  to  the 
Sovereign. 

Catherine  was  known  to  keep  her  word,  and  Monte- 
nuovo had  come  very  quickly  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
had  better  not  attempt  a  struggle  from  which  he  could 
only  emerge  defeated. 

This  was  the  peculiarity  of  the  gifted,  energetic  and 
clever  woman.  She  contrived  to  persuade  everybody  that 
she  was  not  the  kind  of  creature  to  injure  anyone,  pro- 
vided she  were  left  severely  alone ;  and  at  last  the  whole 
of  Viennese  society,  as  well  as  the  Imperial  Family  and 
the  people  who  surrounded  the  Emperor,  began  to  say 

107 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

that  she  was  the  best  person  who  could  have  been  found 
to  amuse  the  Sovereign,  and  to  procure  for  hmi  the 
illusion  of  a  home  in  his  lonely  existence.  Her  presence 
at  his  side  became  a  recognised  fact  which  was  never  more 
disputed. 

Having  convinced  the  world  that  she  was  a  perfectly 
harmless  woman,  Catherine  began  to  assert  herself,  and, 
whilst  seeming  to  do  nothing,  became  in  reality  a  great 
deal  in  the  life  of  the  selfish  Austrian  Monarch.  He 
bought  for  her  a  lovely  villa  at  Hietzing,  a  suburb  of 
Vienna,  which  she  furnished  with  admirable  taste,  helped 
by  an  unlimited  amount  of  money.  She  also  arranged 
for  herself  a  cottage  at  Ischl,  whither  she  repaired  when- 
ever the  Emperor  went  to  the  little  town  which  he  loves 
so  much  and  where  he  feels  happier  than  amidst  the 
splendours  of  the  Hofburg  or  of  Schonbrunn.  It  was 
then  that  both  he  and  Frau  Schratt  enjoyed  their  real 
holiday,  which  no  one  and  nothing  ever  came  to  disturb. 
Francis  Joseph  used  to  visit  the  actress  every  evening — 
even  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Empress,  who,  though  she 
made  at  times  sneering  remarks  at  this  intimacy  of  her 
husband  with  Frau  Schratt,  never  objected  to  the  long 
hours  which  he  used  to  spend  with  her. 

After  the  assassination  of  Elisabeth  the  influence  of 
Catherine  became  even  stronger  than  it  had  been  before. 
She  sought  to  comfort  the  bereaved  widower,  who,  now 
that  his  wife  was  no  more,  suddenly  developed  a  violent 
affection  for  her  and  declared  himself  inconsolable  at  her 

death.    She  humoured  him,  she  read  to  him,  she  listened 

108 


'/ 


=% 


■*), 


;    i- 


v*^»r 


11 


FRAII   CATHF.RIM-    SCHRATT 


Marie  Valerie  Objects 

to  him ;  she  encouraged  him  now  and  then  when  she 
noticed  that  he  thought  it  right  to  assume  the  attitude 
of  one  who  had  lost  all  interest  in  life,  and  she  sometimes 
put  in  a  word  very  softly  in  his  ear  about  this  or  that 
matter,  going  so  far  sometimes  as  to  slip  in  a  remark  on 
political  affairs  when  she  thought  it  necessary. 

The  Imperial  Family  had  grown  to  like  her — with  the 
exception  of  the  Archduchess  Valerie,  who,  when  she  saw 
Catherine  installed  almost  in  her  mother's  place,  began 
to  demur  and  made  violent  scenes  with  her  father  on  the 
subject,  insisting  that  he  should  break  off  his  association 
with  the  woman  whom  some  people  kept  stating  he  had 
married  secretly.  At  first  the  Emperor  ordered  his 
daughter  out  of  the  room,  declaring  that  he  considered 
it  an  insolence  on  her  part  to  assume  the  role  of  a  moral 
mentor  in  regard  to  her  own  father.  Valerie  replied  that 
if  such  were  the  case  she  would  retire  to  her  castle  of 
Wallsee,  and  never  more  set  her  foot  at  Schonbrunn  or 
in  Vienna.  Francis  Joseph  stood  in  awe  of  his  daughter. 
Besides,  he  was  warmly  attached  to  his  grandchildren, 
perhaps  the  only  human  beings  for  whom  he  had  really 
felt  a  disinterested  affection.  He  resigned  himself,  there- 
fore, and  told  the  Archduchess  that  if  such  were  the  case 
he  would  consent  to  break  off  relations  with  Frau  Schratt, 
but  only  upon  one  condition — that  she  would  hencefor- 
ward live  with  him,  together  with  her  family. 

Valerie  was  delighted,  and  installed  herself  at  Schon- 
brunn, but  after  two  months  of  her  existence  there  she 
implored   her  father  to   resume   his   old   relations  with 

i09 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

Catherine.  She  had  discovered  that  to  be  the  constant 
companion  of  a  sour,  disagreeable,  and  selfish  old  man, 
who  expected  her  to  be  always  at  his  beck  and  call,  and 
who  continually  bullied  and  thwarted  her,  and  reproached 
her  for  making  him  unhappy,  was  rather  more  than  she 
could  bear.  So  she  returned  to  her  own  home,  and  left 
the  Emperor  free  to  renew  his  relations  with  the 
fascinating  Catherine. 

Perhaps  "fascinating"  is  hardly  the  right  word. 
Frau  Schratt  had  never  been  handsome  in  her  youth,  and 
is  at  present  a  stout,  middle-aged  woman,  with  no  pre- 
tence at  all  to  a  figure,  white  hair,  and  a  fat  face  which 
occasionally  turns  red  in  the  wrong  place,  fiut  she  is  a 
dehghtful  companion,  and  an  amusing  one,  too.  Her 
kindness  is  proverbial,  and  the  amount  of  good  which 
she  has  done  is  quite  wonderful  though  it  will  never  be 
known. 

When  the  war  broke  out  she  at  once  established  a 
private  hospital,  which  she  has  kept  up  out  of  her  private 
means  and  which  she  attends  every  day,  helping  to  nurse 
the  sick  and  the  wounded,  yet  she  still  found  time  to  spend 
some  hours  every  evening  at  Schonbrunn,  which  the 
Emperor,  since  his  last  illness,  leaves  but  seldom.  Her 
activity,  in  spite  of  the  years  that  have  crowded  upon 
her  head,  is  the  same  as  it  was  in  those  distant  days  when 
Francis  Joseph  first  sought  her  acquaintance  and  threw 
her  the  handkerchief  he  has  never  asked  her  since  to 
return  to  him. 

The  Duchess  of  Hohenberg  was  a  great  friend  of  Frau 

iiO 


Friendship  or  Marriage? 

Schratt,  though  she  saw  her  but  seldom.  The  two  ladies 
sympathised  with  each  other,  and  the  consort  of  the  heir- 
presumptive  to  the  throne  was  credited  with  the  wish  of 
trying  to  arrange  a  secret  marriage  of  the  Emperor  with 
the  woman  who  had  been  such  a  good  friend  to  him. 
But,  although  no  one  in  his  whole  Empire  would  have 
been  found  to  condemn  him  for  such  a  step,  Francis 
Joseph  had  far  too  great  an  idea  as  to  his  own  importance 
even  to  think  of  giving  Catherine  this  proof  of  the  affec- 
tion with  which  he  professed  she  had  always  inspired  him. 
He  never  forgot  that  he  was  a  Habsburg,  and  the  head 
of  that  illustrious  House,  and  though  he  had  given  consent 
to  many  members  of  his  family  to  contract  morganatic 
unions,  the  possibility  of  his  following  their  example 
never  crossed  his  mind  for  a  single  instant. 

It  is  very  much  to  be  questioned  whether  Fran  Schratt 
would  ever  have  consented  to  become  the  wife  of  the 
Sovereign  to  whom  more  than  twenty  years  of  friendship 
had  bound  her  with  such  strong  fetters  that  no  marriage 
ceremony  could  have  made  them  tighter.  She  was  a  very 
independent  woman,  and  was  far  too  clever  not  to  realise 
that  such  a  change  in  her  position  was  far  more  likely  to 
prove  a  burden  to  her  than  to  add  anything  to  her  pres- 
tige. She  liked  her  liberty,  and  the  fact  of  her  clinging 
to  it  gave  her  a  far  stronger  hold  on  the  mind,  and  on 
what  existed  of  heart,  of  the  selfish  Francis  Joseph  than 
she  could  have  obtained  by  accepting  what  he  would  have 
persisted  to  the  end  of  his  days  in  calling  the  greatest 

sacrifice  he  had  ever  been  compelled  to  make.    Her  influ- 

111 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

ence  over  him  was  principally  built  upon  the  circumstance 
that  she  could  tell  him  continually  that,  whilst  he  had 
never  done  anything  for  her  except  giving  her  plenty  of 
money — which  she  could  easily  have  done  without — she 
had  given  up  her  whole  life  to  him  and  to  his  welfare, 
and  had  thus  shown  that  she  cared  for  him  more  than 
for  anything  or  anybody  else  in  the  world. 

A  lot  of  amusing  anecdotes  circulate  in  Vienna  con- 
cerning Frau  Schratt,  more  or  less  true,  and  justifying 
the  French  proverb  that  it  is  only  very  rich  people  who 
find  anj^one  willing  to  lend  them  money.  Countess 
Larisch  quotes  a  few ;  amongst  them  is  one  which  I  am 
rather  inclined  to  think  apocryphal.  It  is  to  the  effect 
that  Francis  Joseph,  having  stayed  rather  later  than  was 
his  wont  with  Catherine  one  evening,  was  surprised,  as  he 
was  leaving  the  house,  by  a  servant  who  had  been  newly 
engaged  and  did  not  know  him  yet.  Seeing  a  strange 
man  come  out  of  her  mistress's  apartments,  the  servant 
raised  the  alarm,  and  upon  being  told  the  identity  of  the 
visitor,  began  singing  the  National  Anthem  in  her  con- 
fusion at  finding  herself  face  to  face  with  her  Sovereign. 

It  is  one  of  these  stories  to  which  one  feels  inclined 
to  apply  the  old  Italian  saying  :  "  Si  non  e  vero,"  etc. 

It  is  not  often  one  meets  with  a  woman  who,  having 

the  chance  to  obtain  almost  everything  that  she  could 

desire  in  the  way  of  money  and  rank — Catherine  could 

easily    have    persuaded    the    Emperor    to    create    her    a 

countess   or    baroness — refuses    to    avail    herself   of    the 

advantage,  and  prefers  to  remain  in  a  relatively  obscure, 

112 


The  Feelings  of  Frau  Schratt 

and  most  certainly  a  false,  position.  Catherine's  case 
would  remain  quite  unexplainable  if  she  had  not  taken 
care  to  explain  that,  being  a  lonely  woman,  without  any 
ambition  save  that  of  getting  from  life  all  the  comfort 
which  she  could,  she  preferred  infinitely  her  personal 
peace  to  anything  else,  and  did  not  care  to  arouse  the 
gossip  and  ill-natured  comments  of  the  world  on  the 
subject  of  her  personality.  As  she  once  told  one  of  her 
few  intimate  friends,  she  had  outlived  all  the  disagree- 
ments of  her  equivocal  position,  and  could  legitimately 
aspire  to  be  left  to  enjoy  quietly  the  result  of  years  of 
labour,  and  to  minister  as  she  liked  to  the  wants  and 
requirements  of  her  old  lover. 

Yet  she  does  not  care  for  him  a  bit — perhaps  this  is 
one  of  the  most  curious  features  of  their  connection — 
and  she  never  cared  for  him  even  at  the  time  when  they 
were  both  young,  with  some  pretensions  to  good  looks ; 
but  she  pities  him  and  looks  upon  him  with  compassion- 
ate eyes,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  is  a  powerful 
Sovereign.  Perhaps  she  realises  better  than  most  people 
the  sad  tragedy  of  a  lot  which  was  destined  to  see  so 
many  misfortunes,  and  to  survive  so  many  disasters, 
whilst  remaining  complete^  unconscious  of  the  tragedy 
in  which  he  was  one  of  the  most  pathetic  actors.  She 
likes  this  old  man  who  was  loved  by  no  one  and  has  found 
so  few  friends.  His  utter  indifference  to  everything 
which  does  not  concern  his  own  material  wants  only  adds 
to  her  feelings  of  compassion  for  him,  and  so  she  clings 

to  him  as  one  clings  to  the  remembrance  of  a  good  action 
I  113 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

which  one  has  performed  once  upon  a  time  and  about 
which  no  one  thinks  or  speaks. 

Frau  Schratt  is  a  good  woman,  and  she  has  proved  it 
all  through  her  existence.  It  is,  however,  very  much  to 
be  regretted  that  she  could  not  use  her  power  over  the 
mind  of  Francis  Joseph  to  induce  him  to  act  honourably 
in  political  as  well  as  in  private  matters.  It  is  also  to 
be  deplored  that  this  undoubtedly  clever  woman  never 
allowed  her  mind  to  stray  farther  and  higher  than  ques- 
tions of  local  interests,  and  that,  through  her  fear  of  being 
thought  intriguing,  she  deliberatel}^  disinterested  herself 
from  all  that  was  not  of  immediate  concern  to  her. 

Perhaps,  had  she  cared  to  try,  Frau  Schratt  might 
have  persuaded  the  old  Emperor  that  he  had  reached  an 
age  where  it  is  doubly  sinful  to  rush  into  a  war,  the 
terrible  consequences  of  which  were  bound  to  react  in  a 
most  sad  and  terrible  manner  on  the  destinies  of  his  own 
people.  But  Catherine  is,  above  everything  else  and 
before  everything  else,  German  in  her  tastes,  opinions, 
and  points  of  view.  She  also  was  all  through  her  life  an 
admirer  of  that  welt  politik  which  Germany  is  doing  its 
best  to  rush  upon  humanity,  and  she  has  always  hated 
Russia  with  ferocity,  partly  on  account  of  her  strong 
Catholic  convictions,  which  lead  her  to  see  in  the  Greek 
faith  a  manifestation  of  the  power  of  the  Evil  One.  The 
Jesuits  are  her  friends,  and  her  Father  Confessor  belongs 
to  that  Order. 

Frau  Schratt  at  present  is  preparing  herself  quietly 

for  the  time  when  the  Emperor  will  be  no  more,  and 

114 


What  Frau  Schratt  Hopes 

when  she  will  find  herself  at  liberty  to  live  her  own  life 
and  dispose  of  it  according  to  her  personal  inclinations 
which  she  has  been  obliged  for  such  a  long  time  to  keep 
under  control.  She  would  not  care  to  find  herself  com- 
pelled to  renounce  any  of  the  material  advantages  which 
she  has  reason  to  believe  she  will  be  awarded  by  the 
will  of  Francis  Joseph,  and  this  is  one  of  the  reasons  why 
she  tries  to  keep  in  obscurity  and  to  do  nothing  likely  to 
damage  her  future  prospects  with  the  heir  to  the  throne 
and  with  his  wife.  She  applies  herself  to  persuade  them 
that  she  is  an  inoffensive  kind  of  being,  who  will  dis- 
appear out  of  the  scene  of  her  former  successes  the 
moment  that  the  Emperor  has  closed  his  eyes,  and  that 
consequently  they  will  have  no  reason  to  regret  having 
shown  themselves  generous  in  regard  to  her.  She  speaks 
already  of  the  retreat  in  which  she  hopes  to  end  her 
days,  and  which  she  would  like  to  be  as  peaceful  and  as 
free  from  annoyance  as  possible.  If  she  is  ever  im- 
patient at  anything,  it  is  at  the  time  which  goes  by 
without  bringing  her  the  freedom  for  which  she  longs. 
She  finds  sometimes  that  Francis  Joseph  has  lived  a  very 
long  time,  and  that  she  is  very  tired.  But  tactful  to  the 
last,  she  restrains  this  manifestation  of  her  sentiments 
even  in  regard  to  her  own  conscience,  and  quietly  waits, 
and  waits  and  waits. 


115 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  MAYERLLNG  TRAGEDY 

VOLUMES  have  been  written  on  the  sad  subject  of 
the  tragedy  in  which  perished  twenty-five  j^ears  ago 
the  heir  to  the  Austrian  Empire,  together  with  the  poor 
girl  who  had  hnked  her  destiny  with  his.  Romances 
without  number  have  been  built  on  the  suppositions 
which  have  beer"  made  on  all  sides  as  to  the  causes  of  this 
extraordinary  catastrophe.  But  so  far  the  riddle  has  not 
been  solved,  and  the  mystery  still  remains  as  deep  as  it 
was  on  the  day  following  upon  the  drama.  I  shall  not 
attempt  here  to  bring  any  new  elements  to  bear  on  the 
sad  and  sordid  storj^,  and  I  shall  begin  by  saying  that  I 
do  not  know  anything  more  than  the  general  public. 
But  still  there  are  certain  deductions  which  can  be  made 
when  one  has  known  the  actors  of  this  sensational  affair, 
and  at  all  events  it  is  not  impossible  to  examine  all  the 
different  versions  which  have  been  circulated,  and  to 
eliminate  the  improbabilities  with  which  these  abound. 

This  process  may  not  bring  one  nearer  to  the  truth, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  can  make  one  understand  the 
psychological  conditions  under  which  the  pistol  shots  that 
put  an  end  to  the  life  of  the  only  son  of  the  Emperor 

Francis  Joseph  could  have  come  to  be  fired. 

116 


THE  CROWN    PRINCE   RUDOLPH 


Rumours  of  Conspiracy 

What  I  am  going  to  relate  is  merely  the  result  of  my 
personal  impressions  and  observations.  I  have  known 
and  spoken  both  with  the  Archduke  Rudolph  and  with 
the  Baroness  Marie  Vetsera,  and  so  to  a  certain  extent  I 
can  draw^  my  own  conclusions  from  the  few  facts  that  have 
come  to  my  knowledge. 

That  there  was  less  romance  in  it  than  has  been  said 
and  supposed  I  feel  absolutely  convinced.  Politics  may 
have  played  a  part  in  the  tragedy,  but  if  this  was  the 
case  it  was  most  certainly  not  to  the  extent  that  some 
people  have  tried  to  represent.  I  do  not  believe  also 
that  the  Jesuits  can  have  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
affair.  I  am  not  fond  of  them,  but  I  am  firmly  convinced 
that  the  sensational  stories  related  concerning  their  share 
in  the  disaster,  which,  among  other  things,  have  appeared 
in  extenso,  repose  on  nothing  else  than  the  imagination 
of  a  writer  desirous  of  making  himself  important  by  relat- 
ing things  which  it  is  impossible  to  contradict  success- 
fully without  awakening  the  remembrance  of  most 
painful  incidents. 

I  also  refuse  to  accept  the  theory  that  the  Crown 
Prince  was  connected  with  the  Archduke  John  Salvator, 
the  future  John  Orth,  in  a  political  conspiracy  against 
his  own  father.  For  one  thing,  he  never  was  upon  good 
terms  with  his  cousin  five  times  removed,  and  a  corre- 
spondence which  I  have  had  the  opportunity^  to  see 
between  the  latter  and  a  lady  from  whom  he  had  but  few 
secrets    mentions    Rudolph    in    terms    which    absolutely 

exclude  any  thought  of  there  ever  having  existed  the  least 

117 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

connivance  between  them.  And,  indeed,  how  could  this 
ever  be?  If  even  the  Crown  Prince  had  conspired  to 
usurp  the  Hungarian  throne,  what  need  was  there  for  him 
to  draw  into  this  plot  a  member  of  a  collateral  branch  of 
his  family  who  had  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  it,  who 
besides  would  have  been  regarded  with  suspicion  by  those 
Magyar  nobles  who  must  have  been  included  in  the  con- 
spiracy, and  who  would  not  have  tolerated  any  interfer- 
ence from  the  Toscana  branch  of  the  Habsburg  family? 
They  had  never  been  popular,  especially  in  Hungary,  on 
account  of  the  arrest  of  several  rebels  of  1848,  who, 
having  fled  to  Florence  in  the  hope  of  remaining  there 
unmolested,  had  been  arrested  by  order  of  the  reigning 
Grand  Duke,  and  handed  over  to  the  Austrian  police. 

Then,  again,  John  Orth  was  considerably  older  than 
Rudolph.  There  existed  absolutely  no  link  between 
them,  except  perhaps  that  of  a  violent  dislike  for  each 
other.  There  is  no  ground  whatever  to  suppose  that  they 
were  associated  in  an  attempt  to  bring  about  a  revolution 
in  Hungary. 

The  tone  of  the  letters  to  which  I  have  referred  gives 
an  emphatic  denial  to  the  conclusions  which  we  are  asked 
to  draw  about  mysterious  facts,  the  details  of  which,  of 
course,  are  held  back  from  us.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, it  is  easy  to  say  whatever  one  likes,  but  perhaps 
not  quite  so  easy  to  get  impartial  people  to  believe  the 
statements. 

Personally,  I  feel  inclined,  from  certain  things  that 

have  come  to   my  knowledge,   to  think  that  the  only 

118 


Rudolph  and  Marie  Vetsera 

political  side  to  this  unfortunate  romance  was  the  desire 
on  the  part  of  certain  people  to  get  a  hold  upon  the 
Archduke  Rudolph,  and  to  saddle  him  with  a  woman 
who  might  have  acquired  considerable  influence  over  his 
mind,  and  perhaps  have  brought  him  to  follow  their  lead 
in  politics.  The  plot  failed,  but  it  was  no  fault  of  theirs 
that  it  did  so,  and  to  hide  the  game  they  invented  all 
kinds  of  sensational  stories  simply  to  mislead  the  public 
into  looking  somewhere  else  than  in  the  true  direction  for 
an  explanation  of  the  tragedy. 

Now  to  return  to  what  I  personally  believe  led  to  the 
tragedy  of  Mayerling.  I  had  occasion  to  meet  Marie 
Vetsera  at  Cairo,  where  she  was  spending  the  winter  of 
1887,  together  with  her  mother  and  sister.  Her  father, 
Baron  Vetsera,  occupied  an  official  post  as  Austrian  Com- 
missary at  the  Foreign  Debt  Office,  and  as  soon  as  his 
family  had  joined  him  there,  the  remarkable  beauty  of 
his  youngest  daughter  caused  her  to  be  immensely  talked 
about. 

Cairo  was  not  at  that  time,  and  I  believe  is  still  not 
a  place  where  a  Puritan  atmosphere  prevails.  Gossip 
flourishes  in  Egypt,  a  natural  consequence  of  the  rela- 
tively small  number  of  Europeans  who  are  standing 
residents  at  Cairo,  and  who  spend  most  of  their  time  dis- 
cussing the  merits  of  the  many  tourists  and  strangers 
who  happen  to  visit  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs  during  the 
winter  season.  Few  cities  are  as  gay  as  the  Egyptian 
capital,  and  few  offer  more  facilities  for  flirtations  and 
intrigues  of  all  kinds. 

119 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

But  even  in  Cairo  the  flirtations  of  Mile.  Vetsera 
gave  rise  to  connnent.  She  was  extraordinarily  beau- 
tiful, and  seen  in  evening  dress,  with  her  lovely  shoulders 
gleaming  out  of  a  black  gown  which  set  off  their  white- 
ness, she  appeared  positively  splendid  to  the  person 
who  saw  her  for  the  first  time,  so  dazzling  was  her  face, 
with  its  wealth  of  dark  hair  shading  a  low  brow,  and  the 
most  magnificent  pair  of  eyes  it  has  ever  been  my  fortune 
to  see.  Her  supple,  slender  figure  had  something  feline 
about  it,  so  graceful  was  her  every  movement.  She 
was  one  of  those  women  who  appeal  to  the  physical 
senses  of  men  from  the  first  moment  that  they  see  them, 
and  she  gave  one  the  impression  that  love,  far  from  being 
a  mystery,  was  known  to  her  in  all  its  details. 

The  Vetseras  were  reputed  rich  people.  In  reality  it 
was  not  at  all  the  case.  Even  at  the  period  to  which  I  am 
referring  there  were  moments  when  the  ladies  of  the 
family  were  short  of  money.  They  had  all  the  most  ex- 
pensive tastes,  and  the  girls  had  been  brought  up  not  to 
deny  themselves  anything  which  thej'^  might  desire  to 
have.  Marie  used  to  dress  far  more  in  the  style  of  a 
married  woman  than  in  that  of  a  girl.  She  discussed 
quite  freely  many  things  that  a  much  older  person  would 
have  felt  embarrassed  to  speak  about,  and  she  used  to 
boast  of  her  many  conquests  with  a  zest  which  jarred  on 
the  sense  of  propriety  of  many  people.  She  was  of 
course  immensely  admired,  but  not  at  all  liked  by  the 
feminine  portion  of  Cairo  Society.    Of  this  she  was  quite 

well  aware,  but  simply  laughed  and  snapped  her  fingers 

120 


Love  Affairs  of  Marie  Vetsera 

at  the  judgments  which  were  passed  upon  her  and  upon 
her  conduct. 

During  the  six  or  seven  months  which  I  spent  in  Cairo, 
Marie  Vetsera  was  the  heroine  of  three  love  affairs.  This 
accounts  perhaps  for  the  ease  with  which  she  contrived 
to  ingratiate  herself  into  the  affections  of  the  Crown 
Prince,  and  for  the  relative  rapidity  with  which  she  led 
her  intrigue  with  him  forward  to  its  dramatic  end. 

Baron  Vetsera  died  in  Egypt,  and  his  widow  and 
daughters  returned  to  Europe,  where  I  lost  sight  of  them 
until  their  name  came  again  prominently  before  the 
public.  Then  I  remembered  the  lovely  dark-eyed  girl 
whom  I  had  admired  so  much  a  few  years  before  the 
world  was  filled  with  her  name.  The  tragedy  in  which 
she  entangled,  far  more  than  she  was  entangled  herself, 
the  young  man  who  was  to  enter  eternity  so  unexpectedly 
did  not  surprise  me.  I  was  only  astonished  that  the 
Archduke  had  been  weak  enough  to  succumb  to  her 
attractions  so  quickly,  for  hers  was  a  nature  absolutely  in- 
capable of  understanding  the  character  of  Rudolph,  with 
all  its  mysterious  intricacies,  which  he  had  inherited  from 
his  mother,  together  with  the  blood  of  the  ill-fated  House 
of  Wittelsbach. 

I  met  the  Austrian  Crown  Prince  just  after  his  com- 
ing of  age  in  1878  or  1879.  I  do  not  remember  exactly 
the  year.  It  was  during  an  evening  party  at  the  Austrian 
Embassy. 

He  was  not  married  at  the  time,  and  must  have  been 

something  like  twenty  or  twenty-two  years  of  age.     He 

121 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

did  not  strike  one  as  a  handsome  fellow  at  all,  but  never- 
theless was  an  eminently  attractive  one.  The  youthful  face 
had  an  air  of  gravity  which  gave  it  an  expression  of  being 
much  older  than  was  actually  the  case,  and  the  reddish 
tint  of  his  hair  was  decidedly  ugly.  But  the  eyes  had  a 
dreamy  look,  full  of  mystery  and  of  eagerness  at  the  same 
time,  which  could  not  fail  to  win  him  the  sympathies  of 
every  person  with  whom  he  entered  into  conversation. 

Rudolph  gave  the  impression  of  being  something  quite 
different  from  what  one  expected,  and  a  certain  abrupt- 
ness in  his  language  set  one  wondering  what  causes  for 
impatience  and  dissatisfaction  he  could  have.  His  man- 
ners showed  extreme  politeness  and  courtesy,  but  were 
rather  cold  and  not  exempt  from  a  shade  of  disdain,  which 
to  many  women  would  have  afforded  a  pretext  for  trying 
to  break  it  down.  He  did  not  dance,  excusing  himself 
under  the  pretext  of  family  mourning,  which  I  remember 
was  commented  upon  not  over  graciously  by  Society,  who 
would  have  liked  to  see  him  spinning  about  the  ball-room 
with  one  of  its  daughters  on  his  arm.  His  air  was  entirely 
Austrian,  and  the  characteristic  lower  lip  of  the  Habs- 
burgs  was  even  more  prominent  in  him  than  in  other 
members  of  his  family,  a  fact,  by  the  way,  which  did  not 
add  to  the  pleasantness  of  his  appearance. 

So  much  for  the  physical  side.  Intellectually,  the 
young  Archduke  was  an  extremely  superior  man,  as  I 
found  in  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  which  touched 
upon  serious  subjects ;  literature,  which  he  had  at  his 
fingers'  ends ;  art  and  social  questions ;  and  I  was  im- 

122 


Culture  of  the  Crown  Prince 

mensely  struck  bj^  the  universality  of  his  knowledge  and  by 
the  maturity  of  his  thoughts.  I  was  very  young  at  the 
time,  and  probably  would  to-day  have  drawn  him  more 
than  I  could  do  then,  so  as  to  get  an  inkling  as  to  his  real 
views,  opinions  and  ideas. 

I  remember  to  this  day  certain  remarks  that  the 
Crown  Prince  made  to  me,  which,  judged  by  subse- 
quent events,  were  of  a  nature  capable  of  throwing  a 
light  on  the  yearnings  of  a  goul  that  was  dissatisfied  with 
everything  because  it  had  always  obtained  all  that  it  had 
wanted.  For  instance,  as  we  were  discussing  a  volume 
of  the  French  Revolution  by  Taine  which  had  appeared 
recently,  he  uttered  these  remarkable  words  :  "I  think 
that  for  many  people  of  that  time  the  death  which  they 
met  and  had  to  face  was  a  great  mercy.  It  saved  them 
from  awakening  to  their  disillusions  as  to  the  gods  which 
they  had  been  worshipping."  I  looked  up  to  him  for 
an  explanation  :  "  Yes,"  he  added,  ""  these  people,  when 
they  gave  themselves  heart  and  soul  to  the  demons 
of  demagogy,  believed  sincerely  that  they  were  working 
for  the  good  of  the  community.  Just  fancy  what  they 
would  have  felt  when  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
hideous  reality,  and  saw  that  behind  all  these  protesta- 
tions of  attachment  to  a  great  idea  there  lurked  thoughts 
of  personal  revenge,  and  often  pure  love  of  gain,  le  '  Otes 
toi  pour  que  je  m'y  mette  '  which  rules  us  all,  or  nearly 
all,  in  our  daily  struggle  for  life.  Far  better  die  than  go 
on  living  after  such  a  disillusion." 

Though  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  passed 

123 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

since  this  conversation,  I  can  still  hear  the  low,  serious 
voice  of  the  Crown  Prince  as  he  uttered  these  words  that 
seemed  to  come  from  his  very  soul.  He  was  usually  very 
earnest  in  all  that  he  said,  and  spoke  slowly,  as  if  he  wanted 
to  wxigh  carefully  every  syllable.  One  could  guess  that 
his  was  a  passionate,  sensitive  nature  kept  under  restraint. 

Those  who  knew  his  mother  affirm  that  he  had  a  great 
deal  in  common  with  her.  Both  showed  the  same  restless- 
ness and  aspiration  toward  better  things  than  those  which 
they  had  already,  the  same  longing  for  something  unknown 
and  unobtainable,  the  same  proud  disdain  and  loathing  for 
what  they  felt  to  be  beneath  them,  and  also  the  same 
hunted  look  in  the  eyes  which  revealed  to  an  observant 
spectator  that  there  was  something  not  rightly  balanced 
in  their  minds.  For  instance,  the  Archduke,  whilst 
speaking  to  one,  had  the  curious  knack  of  suddenly  stop- 
ping in  the  midst  of  a  phrase,  remaining  silent  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  then,  without  apparently  noticing  it,  begin 
talking  about  subjects  absolutely  different  from  those 
which  he  had  been  discussing  before.  This  led  people 
to  think  that  he  wanted  to  be  uncivil  to  them,  and  pro- 
cured him  many  enemies,  but  I  am  convinced  that  he  was 
not  in  the  least  aware  of  this  peculiarity  of  his,  and  quite 
unconscious  of  the  unpleasant  impression  which  it  pro- 
duced on  his  listeners. 

The  education  of  the  Crown  Prince,  though  an  ex- 
cellent one  from  the  intellectual  point  of  view,  had  not 
developed  noble  qualities  or  taught  him  the  joys  of 
unselfishness.     It  is  true  he  had,  at  least  in  his  younger 

124 


The  Empress  and  Her  Son 

days,  that  sense  of  duty  toward  the  head  of  the  House 
which  is  so  developed  in  all  the  Habsburgs ;  but  I  ques- 
tion whether  he  had  ever  felt  any  real  affection  for  the 
Emperor  with  whom  he  had  never  been  upon  good  terms 
ever  since  he  had  been  allowed  to  have  a  certain  independ- 
ence and  a  separate  household  of  his  own. 

His  relations  with  his  mother  have  been  discussed  in 
many  ways,  and  some  people  have  said  that  these  had 
never  been  tender,  and  that  the  Empress  did  not  care  for 
him  in  the  least.  Others  have  affirmed  that  he  was  the 
only  being  whom  she  loved,  and  that  her  affection  for 
him  was  passionately  returned.  I  think  that  both  these 
versions  are  not  exact,  and  that  the  truth  lies  between 
the  two.  Elisabeth  had  never  been  allowed  to  train  her 
son  according  to  her  personal  views,  and,  besides,  had  ex- 
perienced in  regard  to  him  and  to  his  sisters  the  curious 
feeling  which  in  some  rare  cases  makes  a  woman  in- 
different to  the  children  whose  father  has  become  an 
object  of  dislike  or  of  hatred  to  her.  But  later  on,  and 
particularly  during  the  last  years  of  the  Crown  Prince's 
life,  an  intimacy  which  was  daily  growing  stronger  had 
established  itself  between  Rudolph  and  the  Empress, 
especially  since  the  latter  had  discovered  the  unhappy  life 
led  by  her  son  with  his  wnfe,  the  tactless  Princess 
Stephanie. 

The  Empress  attempted  to  soothe  the  Archduke 
and  to  instil  resignation  to  his  lot ;  she  tried  to  per- 
suade him  to  avoid  anything  likely  to  lead  to  a  scandal 

where  he  might  have  been  irremediably  compromised. 

125 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

The  fact  that  for  a  long  time  he  had  had  no  children  of 
his  own,  and  then  that  only  one  daughter  had  been  born 
to  him,  was  a  source  of  great  grief  to  both  the  Empress 
and  her  son.  Rudolph  felt  aggrieved  at  the  disappoint- 
ment of  his  hopes,  and  he  took  this  as  an  excuse  to  spend 
a  great  deal  of  his  time  away  from  her  with  companions 
of  his  own  choice.  In  consequence  the  Princess  felt 
affronted,  and  did  not  make  a  secret  of  the  fact,  so  that 
the  relations  of  the  couple  got  worse  and  worse  every  day. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  some  people  whose 
ambition  made  them  desire  to  exercise  an  influence  on  the 
future  Emperor  threw  the  Baroness  Marie  Vetsera  in 
his  way,  in  the  hope  that  she  would  succeed  in  getting 
hold  of  his  imagination  first  and  of  his  heart  afterwards. 
The  girl  played  most  cleverly  the  game  of  those  who  had 
instructed  her,  one  of  the  aims  of  which  was  to  induce 
the  Crown  Prince  to  assure  her  future  in  such  a  liberal 
manner  that  afterwards  she  would  be  able  to  go  on  lead- 
ing the  luxurious  existence  to  which  she  had  been  used, 
without  any  fear  as  to  the  morrow. 

Marie  Vetsera  pretended  that  she  was  in  love  with 
Rudolph,  declared  that  she  would  die  rather  than  lose 
him,  and  entangled  him  so  well  that  at  last  he  did  not 
know  how  to  get  out  of  the  net.  That  he  thought  of  a 
divorce  from  his  vnfe  is  almost  certain,  but  it  is  still  a 
matter  of  much  doubt  whether,  had  he  obtained  his 
liberty,  he  would  have  forfeited  it  again  for  the  sake  of  a 
girl  he  was  too  experienced  a  man  not  to  have  appreciated 
as  she  deserved ;  and  surely  this  knowledge  was  sufficient 

126 


Marie  Vetsera's  Influence 

to  prevent  him  from  irretrievably  compromising  himself 
for  her,  and  sacrificing  all  his  future  prospects  ? 

What  also  seems  to  have  been  proved,  and  has  been 
known  among  the  small  circle  of  people  who  are  aware 
of  the  inner  aspects  of  the  tragedy,  is  the  fact  that,  in 
order  to  strengthen  her  influence  over  the   Archduke, 
Marie  Vetsera  got  him  into  the  habit  of  taking  drugs,  such 
as  opium  and  morphine.     This  pernicious  habit,  which 
was  the  more  dangerous  for  him  as  nervous  diseases  were 
hereditary  among  the  Habsburgs  as  well  as  among  the 
Wittelsbachs,  was  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  drama, 
and  at  all  events  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  its  sordid 
details.    Politics  may  have  had  to  do  with  it,  inasmuch  as 
the  Crown  Prince  was  on  friendly  terms  with  certain 
Austrian  and  Hungarian  statesmen  who  were  known  to 
stand  in  opposition  to  the  policy  pursued  by  the  Govern- 
ment and  to  dislike    the  Emperor  personally ;   but  to 
conclude  from  this  fact  that  he   aspired  to  usurp   his 
father's  crown  is  going  rather  too  far,  and  is  not  justified 
by  all  that  we  know  concerning  the  character  and  the 
inclinations  of  Rudolph. 

It  is  far  more  likely  that,  worn  out  by  the  abuse  of 
drugs,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  one  of 
the  disillusions  to  which  he  had  alluded  in  his  conversation 
with  myself  which  I  have  related,  and  had  hoped  to  find 
in  death  the  solutions  of  the  mostly  imaginary  difficulties 
in  which  he  fancied  that  he  had  become  entangled. 

There  is  also  another  point  to  be  considered.  If  he 
had  really  loved  Marie  Vetsera,  and  the  efforts  of  those 

127 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

who  had  begun  to  get  alarmed  at  the  consequences  of  his 
connection  with  her  had  at  last  proved  to  him  that  she  had 
not  been  an  innocent  girl  when  he  had  first  met  her,  it  is 
quite  possible  that,  disgusted  with  the  deceit  which  had 
been  practised  in  regard  to  him  and  to  his  feelings,  he 
had  decided  to  break  with  her. 

What  goes  somewhat  to  confirm  this  last  supposition 
is  the  undoubted  fact  that  his  relations  with  the  misguided 
woman  who  was  to  expiate  so  cruelly  her  unworthy 
ambition  had  become  considerably  cooler  during  the  last 
weeks  w^hich  preceded  the  tragedy.  He  had  refused  to 
see  her  at  different  times,  and  she  had  almost  forced 
herself  into  his  presence  at  last,  thanks  to  complicity. 
She  had  followed  him  against  his  will  to  Mayerhng,  as 
has  been  proved  by  a  note  of  his  addressed  to  one  of  his 
personal  friends,  in  which  he  said  that  he  wanted  to  get  a 
few  days'  rest  at  his  shooting-box,  so  as  to  recover  the 
equanimity  that  he  wanted  so  badly  after  the  unpleasant- 
nesses which  he  had  had  lately.  This  does  not  point  at 
all  to  any  intention  on  his  part  of  asking  Marie  to  share 
his  solitude.  It  is  also  certain  that  she  it  was  who  obliged 
the  coachman  Bratfisch  to  drive  her  to  the  place  whence 
she  was  never  to  return. 

If  we  put  all  these  circumstances  together,  we  find 
that  what  is  most  likely  is  that,  when  she  forced  herself 
upon  Rudolph,  the  latter  may  have  been  moved  by 
remnants  of  affection  for  her,  and  the  usual  consequences 
of  such  violent  rapproche'inents  had  taken  place.  Per- 
haps when  he  had  recovered  his  presence  of  mind,  he  had 

128 


J/ 


BARONESS  MARIE  VETSERA 


The  Fatal  Shots 

expressed  to  her  his  disgust  at  her  conduct ;  perhaps,  also, 
maddened  hy  the  abuse  of  drugs,  he  had  allowed  himself 
to  exercise  some  violence  upon  her ;  or,  maybe,  she 
had  in  her  rage  fired  against  him  that  pistol  shot  which 
was  to  end  his  days.  Perhaps  he  simply  was  tired  of  life, 
and,  in  his  desire  to  have  done  with  it,  had  thought  it 
better  before  he  destroyed  himself  to  kill  the  woman 
through  whom  he  had  suffered  so  mucli.  Who  knows? 
One  thing  however  is  certain,  and  adds  to  the  riddle 
which  surrounds  this  death.  The  head  of  the  Crown 
Prince  was  shattered  at  the  back,  whilst  the  w^ounds  of 
Marie  Vetsera  had  been  inflicted  in  the  middle  of  her  face. 
Whether  there  is  any  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  this 
circumstance  it  is  not  for  me  to  say. 

The  body  of  Rudolph  was  taken  back  to  Vienna, 
where  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  previous  to  its  being 
removed  to  the  Augustine  Chapel  situated  in  the  Hofburg 
itself,  the  Emperor,  together  with  the  Empress,  came  to 
kneel  down  and  pray  beside  the  coffin  of  their  only  son, 
that  had  been  deposited  in  the  room  which  he  had 
occupied  during  his  lifetime.  What  passed  in  the  hearts 
and  souls  of  the  bereaved  parents  during  this  mournful 
vigil  it  is  impossible  to  say.  Perhaps  in  the  anguish 
caused  by  this  appalling  catastrophe  Francis  Joseph 
repented  of  his  harshness  toward  the  young  man  who  had 
thus  perished  so  miserably,  as  also  of  the  neglect  with 
which  he  had  treated  the  wife  who  was  prostrate  on  the 
ground  beside  him,  sobbing  aloud  the  agony  of  her  soul. 
After  the  Mayerhng  tragedy  their  relations  became,  if 
J  129 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

not  tender,  at  least  much  more  friendly  than  had  been  the 
case  before  it  had  crushed  them  with  its  weight.  But  the 
heart  of  Elisabeth  had  received  a  wound  from  which  it 
was  never  to  recover,  and  the  secret  of  the  desperate  act 
which  deprived  the  throne  of  Austria  of  its  heir-apparent 
is  still  to  this  day  surrounded  with  as  much  mystery  as 
was  the  case  during  the  first  hours  that  followed  upon  its 
horror. 

There  is  a  sordid  side  to  it  which,  out  of  respect  for 
the  memory  of  the  dead,  ought  to  have  been  avoided. 
The  body  of  Marie  Vetsera  was  taken  away  from  Mayer- 
ling  under  conditions  which  throw  the  shadow  of  eternal 
disgrace  upon  those  who  were  re^onsible  for  them.  The 
miserable  girl,  who  had  lost  her  life  under  such  appalling 
circumstances,  was  buried  with  a  haste  that  nothing 
justified  or  excused  in  the  churchyard  of  the  Abbey  of 
Heiligenkreuz,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  shooting-box 
where  she  had  met  her  end.  There  was  no  priest  to  say 
a  last  prayer  over  her  remains,  no  friends  to  accompany 
her  to  her  grave.  Her  two  uncles  alone  were  allowed  to 
be  present  when  the  earth  was  shovelled  over  her  mortal 
remains.  She  who  had  dreamt  of  a  throne  did  not  even 
get  a  tomb ! 


130 


CHAPTER   VIII 

AMONG    SOCIETY   IN    VIENNA 

TT  is  most  difficult  for  a  foreigner  to  get  to  know  Vienna 
-*-  society  well  enough  to  be  able  to  come  to  any 
definite  conclusions  as  to  its  moral  and  intellectual 
standard.  For  one  thing,  the  highest  circles  of  Austrian 
aristocracy  are  very  exclusive,  and  do  not  easily  allow 
strangers  to  penetrate  into  their  intimacy.  Even  diplo- 
mats who  have  spent  years  in  the  Danube  city  have 
confessed  to  me  that,  beyond  being  invited  to  official 
dinners  and  parties  at  official  houses,  they  have  had  but 
few  opportunities  to  learn  the  inner  socialities  of  Austrian 
society.  Viennese  society  can  be  divided  into  those 
people  who  are  admitted  at  Court  and  those  who  have 
not  that  privilege.  Beyond  any  doubt  the  latter  are  the 
most  entertaining. 

The  aristocracy  has  constantly  intermarried  with  each 
other — at  least,  those  members  of  it  who  belong  to  the 
families  which  figure  in  the  second  part  of  the  Almanach 
de  Gotha.  All  the  Lobkowitzs,  Auerspergs,  Liechten- 
steins,  Trauttmansdorffs  and  Schwarzenbergs  are"  so 
closely  allied  that  they  can  be  said  to  constitute  one  large 
family,  a  fact  which  is  further  emphasised  by  the  custom 

which  prevails  among  them  to  use  the  famihar  '*  Du  " 

131 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

or  "  Thou  "  whenever  speaking  to  each  other.  This  is  not 
merely  the  bad  custom  which  it  is  supposed  to  be.  It 
also  serves  as  a  link  between  the  people  who  consider 
themselves  as  somewhat  superior  to  their  neighbours,  and 
thus  assert  this  difference  between  them  and  common 
mortals. 

The  principal  occupation  of  these  privileged  few  con- 
sists in  discussing  the  births,  marriages  and  deaths  of  their 
acquaintances  and  friends  and  the  sayings  and  doings  of 
the  Imperial  family.  They  scarcely  ever  read ;  their 
knowledge  of  art  is  exceedingly  limited ;  they  have  abso- 
lutely no  general  interests ;  politics  remain  to  them  a 
closed  book  except  when  they  concern  the  welfare  of  the 
Austrian  Empire,  and  even  then  occupy  them  from  the 
arrogant,  but  not  from  the  instructive  point  of  view. 
They  are  all  exceedingly  religious,  would  rather  die  than 
miss  going  to  Mass  every  Sunday.  This  fact  does  not 
make  them  more  charitable  in  regard  to  their  neighbours. 
They  view  mixed  marriages  with  the  greatest  horror,  and 
a  Protestant  alliance  is  to  them  a  mortal  sin  ;  their  greatest 
pleasures  consist  in  the  acquisition  of  a  fast  horse  for  the 
men,  and  pretty  dresses  for  the  women.  They  are  always 
happy  because  they  feel  so  contented  with  the  world  they 
have  been  born  into,  and  the  position  which  they  occupy 
in  it.  When  the  ruthless  hand  of  care  touches  them,  they 
accept  its  blows  with  a  pathetic  resignation  because  their 
sorrows  are  only  those  which,  in  the  course  of  nature,  are 
bound  to  fall  upon  every  human  creature — loss  of  parents, 

children,  friends,  or  money,  and  so  forth.     The  storms 

i32 


The  Cult  of  Gossip 

that  shake  the  soul  with  passion,  love,  or  remorse  remain 
always  unknown  to  them. 

The  Jesuit  Father  who  generally  rules  the  lives  and 
the  consciences  of  those  born  within  that  circle,  has 
trained  them  into  a  state  of  perfect  indifference  to  aught 
else  but  the  selfishness  which  is  the  dominant  feature  in 
their  comfortable  characters.  They  can  be  ill-natured  in 
a  stupid,  aggressive  kind  of  manner,  which  hurts  but  does 
not  wound  those  who  are  the  objects  of  their  sarcasm 
and  disapproval.  They  like  sometimes  to  harm  those 
with  whom  they  do  not  agree,  but  they  immediately  feel 
sorry  for  it ;  after  which  they  begin  doing  it  over  again 
with  a  placid  indifference  to  the  evil  which  they  perpetrate 
that  allows  them  to  feel  and  to  remain  as  content  as  a 
quiet  conscience  and  a  good  digestion  allows. 

Gossip  is  the  favourite  occupation  of  Viennese  ladies 
of  the  higher  classes.  Every  small  incident  gives  them 
an  opportunity  to  enjoy  that  pastime.  In  most  cases  the 
mistakes  made  by  foreigners  concerning  the  etiquette 
prevailing  at  Court  or  in  Society  constitute  the  chief 
objects  of  the  criticisms  of  the  fair  beings  who  visit  each 
other  in  the  afternoon  and  meet  at  their  dressmakers  in 
the  morning.  Love  affairs  are  not  frequent,  and  when- 
ever they  happen  are  only  mentioned  in  imdertones  as 
something  absolutely  shocking.  Fashionable  young  men 
are  supposed  to  seek  their  pleasures  outside  the  pale  of 
Society,  and  if  they  do  make  an  incursion  there  are 
promptly  discouraged,  thanks  to  the  publicity  in  which 
women  live,  which  obliges  them  in  a  certain  sense  to 

133 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

account  for  all  their  actions  not  only  to  their  husbands, 
fathers  and  mothers,  uncles,  aunts  and  cousins,  but  also 
to  Mrs.  Grundy. 

This,  of  course,  applies  to  the  very  highest  circle  of  the 
aristocracy,  where  anyone  not  a  Serene  Highness  is  re- 
fused admittance  except  on  sufferance.  There  is  a  Smart 
Set  at  Vienna,  as  everywhere  else,  but  it  is  looked  upon 
with  distinct  disfavour  by  those  who  rule  society  and 
those  Dowagers  who  turn  away  their  faces  with  an  ex- 
pression of  disgust  and  dismay  whenever  the  names  of 
these  stray  sheep  are  mentioned. 

What  is  so  unpleasant  about  Austrians  is  their 
manners.  For  one  thing,  they  are  all  loud  to  a  degree 
which  takes  one's  breath  away  before  one  has  grown 
accustomed  to  it.  When  you  are  in  a  Viennese  drawing- 
room  you  feel  quite  deafened  at  first  by  the  screams 
which  greet  your  ears.  Everybody  shouts  at  everybody 
else,  and  the  noise  gets  absolutely  deafening  whenever 
three  or  four  people  are  gathered  in  one  place.  Both  men 
and  women  smoke  large  cigars  without  the  least  com- 
punction, and  puff  away  in  your  face  without  suspecting 
that  you  may  not  like  it.  They  all  expect  you  to  conform 
to  their  habits,  to  care  for  what  they  enjoy,  to  be  amused 
by  what  interests  them.  In  short,  they  believe  you  are 
born  for  them,  but  not  they  for  the  world. 

Of  course,  this  helps  to  make  them  happy,  but  it  does 

not  tend  to  favour  sociability  ;  that  can  only  subsist  on  the 

system  of  giving  and  taking — Austrians  only  take. 

I  have  been  told  that  in  former  times  social  life  in 

134 


Ennui  a  Normal  State 

Vienna  was  very  pleasant.  It  can  hardly  be  called  so 
nowadays.  For  one  thing,  most  people  like  to  live  quietly, 
and  though  the  aristocracy  have  their  own  palaces  in 
Vienna,  they  rarely  dwell  in  them,  spending  the  greater 
part  of  their  time  in  the  country,  where  most  of  them 
possess  splendid  castles  and  estates,  and  where  the  men 
can  indulge  in  their  favourite  occupation  of  shooting 
every  kind  of  animal  that  comes  within  range. 

The  women  do  nothing,  when  they  do  not  shoot ; 
anything  more  deadly  dull,  indeed,  than  a  country  house 
visit  in  Austria  does  not  exist  in  the  whole  of  the  world. 
Small  talk  even  is  only  upon  local  subjects,  and  devoid 
of  that  spice  which  alone  can  lend  some  animation  to  it. 
An  Austrian  of  the  upper  classes  could  not  be  witty,  no 
matter  how  hard  he  tried.  This  ignorance  and  indiffer- 
ence to  everything  which  is  not  immediately  connected 
with  their  personal  welfare  have  very  much  to  do  with 
the  direction  which  Austrian  politics  has  assumed  during 
the  last  twenty-five  years  or  so.  Having  been  almost 
exclusively  in  the  hands  of  men  belonging  by  their  birth 
to  the  high  aristocracy,  they  have  forcibly  reflected  the 
incapacity  of  those  who  directed  them,  as  well  as  their 
prejudices,  of  which  whole  legions  existed.  Austria  is 
atrophied,  and  her  great  misfortune  consists  in  the  fact 
that,  though  aware  of  it,  she  yet  refuses  to  call  to  her 
rescue  fresh  strengths  and  fresh  minds  capable  of  pulling 
the  creaking  chariot  of  the  State  out  of  the  mire  in  which 
it  is  embedded  ;  its  drivers  merely  look  on,  and  feel  happy 

without  knowing  why. 

d35 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

My  readers  may  think  me  severe,  but  I  would  ask 
them  to  look  around  and  see  whether  there  is  one  single 
man  on  the  horizon  of  Vienna  society  who  could  aspire 
to  be  called  a  statesman.  All  those  who  play  a  part 
of  some  kind  in  the  public  life  of  the  country  are  Hun- 
garians, not  Austrians ;  and  Hungary  it  will  be  who  will 
say  the  last  word  when  the  question  of  the  settlement  of 
the  difficulties  that  have  sprung  into  existence  with  the 
present  war  will  come  to  be  discussed.  The  incapacity 
displayed  by  Count  Berchtold  and  his  colleagues  will  have 
to  be  remedied  in  the  future  bj^  someone  or  other  among 
Hungarian  political  men. 

After  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  the  society  of  that  town 
became  more  cosmopolitan,  thanks  to  the  strong  foreign 
contingent  which  the  dehberations  of  that  famous 
assembly  had  brought  to  the  Austrian  capital.  Little  by 
little,  however,  this  character  was  lost,  and  Viennese 
citizens  became  simply  badly  brought  up  Germans. 
Refinement  disappeared,  and  the  moral  standard  of  the 
people  fell  to  a  parallel  with  their  ideas  of  bodily  comforts. 
Anything  more  dismaying  than  a  guest's  room,  for 
instance,  in  a  country  house  has  never  been  seen.  Its 
furniture  consists  generally  of  a  narrow  bed  with  sheets 
like  pocket-handkerchiefs,  and  wash-basins  like  tea-cups. 
Everything  else  is  built  on  the  same  scale. 

It  is  easy  to  believe  that  under  these  conditions  social 
life  in  Vienna  does  not  offer  many  resources  to  the 
foreigner,  even  if  he  arrives  there  with  the  best  of 
introductions.     The  Court  gives  one  or  two  balls  during 

136 


Archaic  Distinctions 

the  winter  season — at  least,  it  used  to  do  so  until  the  war 
— and  these  are  always  widely  coniinented  upon,  on 
account  of  the  invitations  issued.  There  exist  any 
number  of  subtle  distinctions  as  to  who  has  the  right  to 
be  asked  to  these  festivities,  and  Spanish  etiquette  still 
prevails  in  all  its  strictness  at  the  Hofburg.  Those  who 
cannot  boast  of  the  necessary  quarterings  and  pedigrees 
giving  them  the  entry  into  the  palace  have  perforce  to 
resign  themselves  to  be  excluded  from  these  balls,  no 
matter  what  may  be  their  official  and  social  positions. 
Husbands  are  asked  without  their  wives,  and  wives,  when 
they  are  the  lucky  owners  of  the  Order  of  the  Starred 
Cross,  can  be  admitted  without  their  husbands.  At 
certain  balls,  even  high  birth  is  not  sufficient  to  procure 
an  invitation,  and  one  must  be  a  Privy  Councillor  or  an 
Imperial  Chamberlain  to  receive  one. 

This  explains  why  almost  every  young  man  of  the 
aristocracy  holds  the  latter  office,  whilst  upon  her  mar- 
riage every  woman  within  that  exclusive  circle  is  given  the 
decoration  without  which  the  doors  of  the  Hofburg  would 
remain  closed  before  her.  Receptions  are  simply  the 
public  acknowledgment  that  you  have  a  father  and  mother 
worth  mentioning,  but  not  that  you  are  a  welcome  guest 
on  the  strength  of  your  own  merits. 

Among  the  Archdukes  and  Archduchesses  the  only 
ones  who  show  some  hospitality  to  their  friends  are  the 
Archduke  Frederick  and  his  wife,  the  Archduchess 
Isabella,  who  partly  to  amuse  their  numerous  daughters, 
and    partly    because    they    like    to    see    people    fill    the 

137 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

magnificent  rooms  of  their  splendid  palace,  hold  a  few 
functions  every  winter.  These  are  mostly  very  well 
arranged,  and  less  dull  than  the  receptions  at  the  Hof- 
burg.  The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Cumberland  also  open 
the  gates  of  their  lovely  Vienna  residence  to  Society. 
Among  all  the  Royal  and  Imperial  personages  who  com- 
pose the  upper  ten  of  the  city,  the  Duke  and  Duchess 
stand  almost  alone  in  treating  their  guests  in  that  famihar 
manner  which  allows  people  to  realise  that  they  are  made 
of  the  same  clay  as  those  who  invite  them. 

Few,  also,  among  the  Court  officials  care  for  enter- 
taining. Sometimes  the  great  Chamberlain,  Count 
Lanckoronski,  throws  open  the  doors  of  his  patrimonial 
residence  and  receives  in  great  state  the  whole  Society  of 
Vienna.  He  is  a  Pole  and  a  clever  man,  with  none  of  the 
cold  haughtiness  pecuHar  to  Austrians,  a  great  reader, 
and  a  pleasant  companion,  with  a  keen  taste  for  art  and 
literature,  and  consummate  knowledge  of  the  world. 

Then  once  a  year,  on  the  31st  of  December,  the 
Princess  of  Trauttmansdorff  receives  with  much  ceremony 
all  the  ladies  of  note  in  Society  and  the  wives  of  the 
diplomats.  She  is  Mistress  of  the  Imperial  Household, 
accepting  the  New  Year  wishes  of  their  faithful  subjects 
on  behalf  of  the  Emperor  and  the  dead  Empress.  This 
yearly  reception  is  remarkable  because  the  Princess  is  not 
permitted  by  the  prevailing  etiquette  to  shake  hands  with 
anyone,  not  even  with  the  womenfolk  of  the  Ambassa- 
dors, a  circumstance  which  has  always  aroused  the  ire  of 
these  ladies,  who  make  no  secret  of  their  indignation  at 

138 


Old,  but  Not  Venerable 

what  they  consider  to  be  a  piece  of  insolence.  The 
Princess  herself  is  quite  miserable  at  being  compelled  thus 
to  show  herself  discourteous,  and  has  more  than  once 
applied  to  Francis  Joseph  for  permission  to  ignore  this 
superannuated  rule,  but  without  success.  The  Emperor 
seems  to  think  that  if  she  shook  hands  with  anyone  the 
dignity  of  the  House  of  Habsburg  would  be  compromised 
for  ever. 

It  is  by  the  help  of  these  distinctions  and  customs, 
which,  in  spite  of  the  march  of  time,  are  to-day  what  they 
were  three  hundred  years  ago,  that  the  Austrian  Court 
believes  it  maintains  its  dignity  in  the  world.  The 
aristocracy  follows  the  example  of  the  Court,  and  is  im- 
bued with  the  same  spirit,  with  the  result  that  both  have 
outlived  themselves,  are  no  longer  respected  or  feared,  and 
produce  the  impression  of  something  which,  though  very 
old,  is  still  not  venerable. 

Lately  a  few  young  Archduchesses,  having  wedded 
common  mortals  in  possession  of  great  titles  and  consider- 
able worldly  goods,  have  brought  with  them  in  the 
families  into  which  they  have  entered  the  etiquette  that 
had  prevailed  in  their  single  days.  This  has  added  stiff- 
ness to  what  was  already  a  very  stiff  regime. 

Very  few  private  people  entertain  in  Vienna  except  in 
a  formal  way,  and  of  these  also  the  number  is  limited. 
Public  balls  take  place  every  winter,  which,  being  always 
given  for  some  charitable  purpose,  attract  a  considerable 
number,  bringing  together  the  different  sets  which  com- 
pose the  society  of  the  capital.    But  the  men  and  women 

139 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

who  have  spoken  with  each  other  during  a  whole  evening, 
danced  and  supped  together  at  these  affairs,  scarcely  bow 
to  each  other  when  they  meet  the  next  day,  while  each 
ignores  the  other  entirely  when  they  do  not  belong  to 
the  same  coterie.  A  like  remark  can  be  applied  to  the 
love  affairs  of  certain  ladies  of  the  upper  set.  They  flirt 
wildly  with  men  whom  they  refuse  either  to  know  or  to 
receive  at  their  own  houses. 

Finance  has  lately  come  very  much  to  the  front  in 
Vienna.  Formerly  it  would  have  been  quite  impossible 
for  a  banker  to  have  been  admitted  into  very  select 
Society.  But  with  the  advent  of  the  famous  Princess 
Pauline  Metternich  things  changed  considerably.  She 
brought  with  her  to  the  Austrian  capital  the  camaraderie 
which  she  had  exhibited  in  Paris,  and  immediately  sur- 
rounded herself  with  people  who  amused  her,  or  who 
could  prove  useful  to  some  of  the  numerous  schemes  in 
which  she  was  continually  indulging.  She  was  so 
independent  that  it  became  easy  for  her  to  brave  the 
customs  prevailing  amongst  her  set,  and  the  first  thing 
which  she  did  was  to  invite  the  Baron  Hirsch,  and  as 
many  of  his  co-religionaries  as  she  could  find,  to  her 
hospitable  house,  much  to  the  scandal  of  her  friends. 
These  friends,  however,  before  long  followed  the  lead 
which  she  had  given,  and  began  also  to  frequent  the 
houses  of  the  wealthy  Jews  and  the  financiers  of  Vienna. 

The  Princess  had  chosen  for  her  particular  friend  the 
late  Baron  Nathaniel  Rothschild.     Hardly  a  day  passed 

without  his  coming  to  see  her.    She  used  to  call  him 

140 


Princess  Pauline  Metternich 

her  Jew,  '^^  mein  Jude,^^  and  by  this  piece  of  arrogance, 
to  which  it  is  surprising  that  the  Baron  submitted,  she 
imagined  that  she  made  plain  the  difference  which 
existed  between  her  social  rank  and  his,  of  which  she 
remained  at  heart  perfectly  aware,  though,  just  to  spite 
and  to  annoy  a  Society  she  had  never  liked,  she  seemed 
to  forget  it.  The  Princess  Metternich  was  a  grande  dame 
by  birth,  but— by  the  absence  of  cold  haughtiness  from 
her  usual  ways — it  is  to  be  questioned  whether  she  would 
always  have  been  considered  as  such  anywhere  else  but 
in  her  beloved  Vienna,  where  the  cab  drivers  still  sing  her 
praises,  and  the  waiters  in  restaurants  speak  of  her  as 
''Our  Pauline." 

In  spite  of  her  originality  and  enterprise — perhaps  on 
account  of  these  traits — the  Princess  Pauhne  never  made 
a  position  for  herself  in  Vienna  which  could  be  compared 
to  the  one  which  had  been  occupied  half  a  century  before 
her  time  by  the  Princess  Lory  Schwarzenberg,  whose  in- 
fluence over  the  men  and  women  of  her  generation  is 
remembered  to  this  day.  After  Princess  Lory,  another 
great  lady,  the  Countess  Clotilde  Clam-Gallas,  held  an 
undisputed  sway  over  the  society  of  the  Viennese  capital, 
where  her  salon  exercised  a  real  power,  and  where  it  was 
considered  a  special  privilege  to  be  admitted.  The 
Countess  Clam  was  an  exceedingly  clever  and  intelligent 
woman,  with  little  of  Austrian  narrowness.  She  took  a 
keen  interest  in  politics,  and  from  time  to  time  the  states- 
men in  power  did  not  disdain  to  consult  her.    When  she 

died,  there  disappeared  with  her  the  last  representative 

141 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

of  a  generation  that  had  looked  beyond  a  big  cigar  and  a 
pretty  gown  for  its  enjoyments.  At  present  Society  in 
Vienna  is  remarkable  for  the  absence  of  outstanding 
personalities. 

In  the  financial  circles,  however,  as  I  have  already 
mentioned,  can  be  found  men  and  women  of  talent  and  of 
excellent  education.  Young  diplomats,  above  the  fear  of 
being  compromised,  frequent  this  special  inilieu,  where 
most  interesting  people  are  to  be  met. 

Then  there  are  the  Hungarian  elements,  which  con- 
stitute a  special  set  of  their  own.  Here,  beautiful  women 
are  to  be  met  in  plenty,  considerable  elegance  prevails, 
and  one  can  find  individuals  of  unusual  charm  and  attrac- 
tion. The  Princess  Festetics,  for  instance,  belongs  to  this 
set.  She  owes  to  her  EngUsh  birth  and  parentage  most 
of  the  qualities  which  make  her  such  an  exclusively 
sympathetic  and  graceful  woman.  There  is  the  Polish 
set,  also  entertaining,  where  perhaps  one  can  meet  with 
more  seriousness  than  anywhere  else  in  Vienna,  and 
amidst  which  there  are  to  be  found  women  like  the 
Countess  Roman  Potocka,  who  is  quite  certainly  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  persons  of  her  generation,  and  only 
inferior  in  intelligence  and  in  knowledge  to  her  own 
mother,  the  regretted  Princess  Radziwill,  who  died  a  few 
months  ago.  But  all  these  are  not  Austrians,  nor 
Viennese ;  they  are  foreigners,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
they  are  subjects  of  the  Austrian  Empire.  One  cannot 
speak  of  them  or  judge  them  as  one  would  speak  or  judge 

of  the  pure-bred  Austrians,  whose  boredom,  insufficiency, 

142 


A  Satellite  of  Prussia 

arrogance  and  ignorance,  stamp  the  most  exclusive  society 
of  the  capital  that  owns  Francis  Joseph  for  its  Kaiser. 

Can  one  wonder,  therefore,  that,  guided  by  such 
people,  Austrian  politics  has  become  the  despicable  cult 
it  is  to-day?  Can  one  feel  surprised  that  a  country  where 
the  upper  classes  have  lost  the  sense  of  the  duties  which 
their  position  implies,  where  their  sole  occupations  are  of 
the  emptiest,  silliest  order,  has  drifted  into  the  position  of 
a  subordinate  to  the  first  strong  element  that  gave  itself 
the  trouble  to  exploit  it  for  its  own  profit? 

Austria  has  ceased  to  exist  independentlj^ ;  she  is  the 
satellite  of  Prussia ;  the  Prussian  spirit  alone  rules  her 
and  guides  all  her  actions.  She  has  a  Sovereign,  it  is 
true,  but  he  is  a  mere  puppet  in  the  hands  of  circum- 
stance, as  well  as  of  men.  She  has  a  Government  w^hich 
inspires  no  respect,  which  is  unable  to  guide  itself,  or 
to  give  its  officials  prestige.  She  has  an  army  which 
must  always  implore  and  rely  on  foreign  help  to  make  a 
stand  before  its  adversaries.  She  has  a  clergy,  but  what 
influence  can  this  clergy  acquire  when  everybody  knows 
that  it  is  entirely  dependent  on  the  aristocracy  for  its  sup- 
port, and  troubles  but  little  about  the  poor  and  the 
humble  of  this  world?  She  has  a  nobility,  but  what 
esteem  can  this  nobility  pretend  to,  when  it  is  hardly  able 
to  read  and  write,  when  it  has  learnt  nothing  and  still 
believes  itself  in  an  age  when  it  was  sufficient  to  have  had 
ancestors  to  be  feared  and  considered? 

When  we  examine  all  these  facts,  when  we  review  the 

present   situation   in   which   Austria  has   placed   herself 

143 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

to-day,  we  can  only  come  to  one  conclusion,  and  that  is 
that  when  we  catch  ourselves  thinking  that  she  can  be  of 
some  account  in  the  final  settlement  of  Europe,  when  it 
takes  place,  we  make  a  gross  mistake.  Austria  will  not 
be  considered  by  anyone,  not  even  by  Germany,  whose 
lead  she  has  so  obediently  followed.  She  will  find  out  that 
she  has  sacrificed  her  independence  to  false  and  mistaken 
expectations. 


i44 


CHAPTER   IX 

HUNGARY  :    ITS    POLITICAL    MEN    AND    SOCIAL    LIFE 

AMONG  his  many  titles,  the  one  of  which  Francis 
-^~^  Joseph  ought  to  be  most  proud  is  that  of  King  of 
Hungary,  but  in  reality  this  has  never  been  the  case. 
Although  he  affected  great  sympathy  for  his  Magyar 
subjects,  and  although  he  showed  them  the  greatest  con- 
sideration upon  every  possible  occasion,  at  heart  he  has 
never  forgiven  them  for  their  rebellion  in  1848.  With 
the  Empress  it  was  different.  Elisabeth  had  been  popular 
in  Hungary  from  the  first  day  that  she  had  appeared 
there  in  the  glory  of  her  womanhood  and  of  her  w- ondrous 
beauty.  She  had  learned  the  Hungarian  language,  too, 
with  much  greater  thoroughness  than  her  consort  ever  suc- 
ceeded in  doing,  and  could  talk  to  her  subjects  at  Budapest 
in  their  own  tongue  just  as  well  as  she  could  converse  with 
her  Viennese  subjects.  Then,  too,  she  spent  some  weeks 
every  autumn  at  her  shooting-box  at  Godollo,  where  she 
could  enjoy  some  hunting,  an  exercise  which  she  pre- 
ferred to  all  others.  She  also  felt  far  more  at  her  ease 
at  Budapest  than  in  Vienna,  where  she  had  to  live 
under  the  sway  of  an  etiquette  which  she  hated  with  all 
her  soul. 

As  I  have  stated  already,  it  is  a  question  whether  the 
K  145 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

reconciliation  which  took  place  between  the  Emperor  and 

Hungary,  and  which  ended  with  his  solemn  coronation  on 

the  plains  of  Buda,  could  ever  have  occurred  had  it  not 

been  for  the  intervention  of  the  Empress  EUsabeth,  who 

had  exerted  all  the  influence  which  she  possessed  over 

her  husband,  as  well  as  over  the  leading  personages  of 

the  Hungarian  aristocracy,  to  bring  it  about.     Francis 

Joseph  had  submitted  to  it,  accepted  it,  endorsed  it,  but 

had  never  rejoiced  at  it  nor  been  sincere  in  his  assurances 

that  its  accomplishment  had  given  his  heart  one  of  its 

dearest   wishes   and  desires.     He   feared   the   too   great 

influence  which,  after  his  acceptance  of  the  Hungarian 

constitution,    the    nobility    and    political    men    of    that 

country  might  come  to  take  in  the  conduct  of  the  affairs 

of  his  Monarchy. 

Francis  Joseph  would  have  infinitely  preferred  seeing 

the  Magyars  relegated  to  an  inferior  rank,  and  not  able 

to  interfere  in  the  business  of  the  State.     The  Emperor 

dimly  perceived  that  Austria  was  bound  within  a  certain 

time  to  become  absorbed  in  its  more  vigorous  partner, 

and  that  the  Dual  Monarchy  might  very  easily  end  by 

being  a  one-sided  affair,  in  which  Hungary  would  have 

the   better   part.      His   previsions    were   not   mistaken, 

but   he   could   not  bring   himself  to   look   kindly   upon 

the  new  political  constellation  that  formed  itself  around 

him,    nor   to    forgive    his    Hungarian    subjects   for   the 

important    place    which    he    felt    himself    compelled    to 

award  to  them  in  matters  of  State.     With   his  Prime 

Minister,    Count   Andrassy,   whom  in  former  years  he 

146 


Count  Andrassy 

had  condemned  to  death,  Francis  Joseph  never  felt 
at  ease,  and  was  not  sorry  when  events  turned  out  so 
that  he  had  to  part  from  him.  Yet  Count  Andrassy 
I  was  a  great  Minister,  a  great  historical  figure,  though 
he  was  not  a  great  man. 

It  was  Count  Andrassy  who  started  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Monarchy  on  a  new  road,  and  inaugurated  the 
Austro-German  alliance.  No  one  could  have  believed 
such  a  compact  ever  possible  after  the  disaster  of  Sadowa, 
but  he  had  the  instinct  to  guess  the  greatness  of  the 
intrigue  into  which  Prince  Bismarck  inveigled  Austrian 
politics  by  drawing  them  into  the  sphere  of  German 
political  activity  and  against  Russia,  which,  with  its 
influence  over  the  Balkans  on  the  one  side,  and  over 
France  on  the  other,  was  the  common  enemy  of  Teu- 
tonism. 

Count  Andrassy  was  an  extremely  clever  man,  with  a 
brilliant  wit  and  something  dashing  about  him  which  gave 
I  a  tinge  of  romanticism  to  his  whole  personality.  He  was 
':  not  handsome,  having  a  decidedly  gipsy  type  of  face,  but  I 
do  not  think  I  ever  saw  a  man  looking  more  elegant  than 
he  when  in  the  Hungarian  dress  he  was  fond  of  wearing 
upon  State  occasions.  He  was  a  charming  companion, 
and  had  the  rare  talent  of  making  people  forget  his 
undoubted  superficiality  in  regard  to  his  general  know- 
ledge, while  remembering  only  the  genuine  talents  with 
which  Nature  had  endowed  him. 

The  Prime  Minister  could  seize  and  appreciate  the 

value  of  those  grand  political  conceptions  of  which  Prince 

147 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

Bismarck  was  a  master,  and  had  enough  perception 
to  understand  that  it  would  be  to  the  advantage  of  his 
beloved  Hungary  to  enter  into  them.  Without  him 
the  famous  Triple  Alliance — concerning  which  such 
torrents  of  ink  have  been  spilt — could  hardly  have  been 
concluded,  as,  notwithstanding  the  hugeness  of  his  intel- 
lect and  of  his  superiority.  Prince  Bismarck  alone  would 
never  have  been  able  to  render  it  acceptable  to  public 
opinion  in  Hungary,  even  if  Austria  were  prepared  to 
swallow  it,  owing  to  her  inability  to  understand  with  w^hat 
danger  it  was  fraught  for  her  future.  Count  Andrassy 
was  a  power  in  the  land  of  his  birth  and  believed  in  by  a 
large  party.  He  had  realised  one  fact,  which,  however, 
he  was  careful  enough  not  to  point  out  to  other  people — 
that  in  the  end  the  Triple  Alliance  was  bound  to  throw 
Austria  into  the  German  confederation,  either  before  or 
after  a  Continental  war,  and  that  this  incorporation  would 
mean  the  complete  independence  of  Hungary  from  the 
Habsburgs  and  their  dynasty,  a  thing  which  had  been 
the  aim  of  Andrassy 's  whole  life  as  well  as  of  all  his  efforts 
as  a  politician. 

Though  no  one  understood  or  guessed  what  the  Count 
had  had  in  his  mind  when  he  had  extended  to  Bismarck 
the  hand  of  a  friendship  which  at  the  bottom  was  both 
insincere  and  interested,  yet  the  policy  inaugurated  by 
Andrassy  was  to  mature  after  he  had  disappeared  from 
the  political  scene,  in  the  sense  that  as  Hungary  developed 
it  became  more  and  more  independent  of  Austrian  con- 
trol.    Finally,  Hungary  succeeded  in  imposing  her  own 

148 


Hungarian  Domination 

statesmen  and  politicians  on  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph, 
obhging  him  to  look  toward  people  like  Count  Tisza  or 
Count  Apponyi  for  his  advisers,  and  impressing  him  with 
the  necessity  of  always  consulting  them,  or  any  colleagues 
they  might  have,  whenever  he  found  himself  faced  by 
difficulties  in  the  administration  of  the  vast  Dual^ 
Monarchy  which  owned  him  for  its  chief. 

The  Emperor,  very  decidedly,  never  appreciated  nor 
liked  that  kind  of  thing,  but  he  became  used  to  it 
nevertheless,  and  soon  Budapest  secured  a  deciding  voice 
in  all  questions  concerning  international  politics  as  well 
as  respecting  the  interior  administration  of  the  Empire. 
Budapest  gradually  became  the  master  at  the  Hofburg 
as  well  as  the  Ball  Platz,  and  this  though  she  was  still 
considered  by  many  as  merely  being  tolerated  out  of 
kindness  and  only  allowed  to  remain  on  sufferance. 

It  is  just  as  well  to  say  at  once  that  Hungary  deserved 
the  leading  part  which  it  had  secured  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Dual  Monarchy.  Hungarians  are  certainly  more 
clever  than  Austrians ;  they  are  brought  up  far  more 
practically  and  earnestly,  and  with  infinitely  fewer  preju- 
dices. They  are  a  proud  race,  but  have  none  of  the 
overbearing  arrogance,  based  on  ignorance,  which  is  such 
a  distinctive  feature  of  the  Austrian  character,  especially 
among  the  upper  classes.  They  are  not  so  much  under 
the  influence  of  the  clergy,  and  are  broad  and  liberal  in 
their  opinions. 

The  cleverest  diplomats  that  Austria  has  had  during 

the  last  twenty-five  years  or  so  have  been  Hungarians. 

149 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

Of  course,  I  make  an  exception  for  Count  Aerenthal, 
who  was  all  that  a  Jew  ought  to  be,  and  who,  in  spite  of 
his  affected  sympathies  for  Hungary,  would  have  infinitely 
preferred  she  had  never  existed.  He  was  clever  enough 
to  be  quite  aware  that  the  haughty  Magyars  had  never 
accepted  him  as  quite  their  equal,  and  that,  moreover, 
they  were  not  partisans  of  any  policy  of  adventure  in 
which  they  could  not  find  their  own  immediate  advan- 
tage. The  only  point  upon  which  they  were  in  accord 
was  their  undying  hatred  of  Russia,  which,  however 
explainable  on  the  part  of  Hungarians,  savoured  of  in- 
gratitude on  the  part  of  Austria.  The  leaders  of  the 
opposition  parties  in  Budapest  were  all  clever  people, 
with  an  aim  which  was  quite  clear  and  distinct  in  their 
minds,  thus  contrasting  vividly  with  the  nebulous  con- 
ditions which  characterised  the  enterprises  of  the  different 
statesmen  having  the  direction  of  Austrian  foreign 
politics,  and  who,  with  the  sole  exception  of  Count 
Aerenthal,  always  wanted  something  without  in  the  least 
knowing  what  it  was. 

Hungary,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  had  never  accepted  her 
union  with  Austria  quite  sincerely.  She  had  been  com- 
pelled to  do  so  as  a  step  toward  the  entire  independence 
she  was  absolutely  determined  to  obtain  one  day.  She 
smiled,  therefore,  upon  her  secular  foe,  Austria,  and 
consented  to  see  the  crown  of  St.  Stephen  put  on  the 
head  of  Francis  Joseph.  She  made  a  great  sacrifice  in 
thus    humbling    herself   before   the    man    who    had    not 

hesitated  to  send  to  the  scaffold  the  best  among  her  sons, 

150 


The  Magyar  Aristocracy 

but  she  fully  meant  to  reap  in  the  future  the  benefit  of 
that  absence  of  memory  which  she  had  affected.  Little 
by  little  Hungary  felt  her  ground,  and  every  day  took 
a  few  steps  farther  on  the  road  which  was  to  lead  her  to 
entire  liberty.  She  did  not  approve — at  least,  her  leaders 
did  not — of  the  policy  of  aggression  pursued  in  the 
Balkans  by  the  Austrian  Government,  and  she  failed  to 
see  of  what  advantage  to  her  owti  personal  interests  this 
policy  could  prove  to  be. 

What  Hungary  did  realise  to  the  utmost  was  the 
possibilities  of  advantage  to  her  aims  which  a  European 
war  might  bring  by  effecting  her  separation  from  the 
Empire  of  which  she  was  considered  to  form  a  part. 
Hungary  hated  the  Habsburgs,  and  the  Magyar  aristoc- 
racy despised  those  Austrian  nobles  who  refused  to  admit 
it  on  a  footing  of  equality.  By  a  curious  anomaly 
many  people  who  were  received  by  the  Emperor  and  by 
the  Empress  in  their  intimacy  at  Budapest,  and  treated 
by  them  there  as  their  personal  friends,  could  not  be 
admitted  into  their  presence  in  Vienna,  no  matter  what 
high  functions  they  might  occupy  in  the  hierarchy  of 
their  own  country.  Men  like  Count  Karolyi,  for  in- 
stance— who  had  been  ambassador  in  different  countries, 
among  other  places  at  the  Court  of  St.  James's — failed 
to  secure  an  invitation  for  his  wife  to  a  Court  ball  in 
Vienna,  though  she  graced  with  her  beauty  all  the 
festivities  given  at  the  Royal  Palace  at  Buda.  This 
was  because  the  mother  of  the  Countess  (the  Countess 

Erdody)  had  not  quite  the  requisite  eminence  of  family 

151 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

alliances  and  birth.  These  subtle  distinctions,  which 
belonged  to  another  age,  incensed  the  Hungarian  aristoc- 
racy, and  made  it  shun  the  Austrian  capital  unless 
absolutely  necessary ;  they,  moreover,  widened  every  day 
the  gulf  which  separated  the  reigning  dynasty  from  its 
Magyar  subjects. 

When  the  war  broke  out  in  1914  the  Hungarians  did 
not  accept  it  with  enthusiasm,  in  spite  of  their  violent 
dislike   for   Russia.     For   one   thing.    Count   Tisza    and 
Count  Apponyi,  and  others,  thought  that  the  hour  for 
such  a  struggle  had  not  yet  arrived,  and  that  it  was  a 
mistake  to  seize  the  pretext  of  the  murder  of  the  Arch- 
duke Francis  Ferdinand  to  open  an  era  of  strifes  which 
might  have  the  gravest  consequences,  not  only  for  Austria 
and  the  Habsburgs,  but  also  for  Hungarj^  itself.     Their 
country  was  not  ready  to  take  her  fate  into  her  own  hands 
and  proclaim  her  independence.     There  was  always  the 
fear  that  should  the  war  prove  successful  for  the  united 
armies  of  the  Kaiser  and  of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph, 
the  former,  in  order  to  dissimilate  his  own  designs  against 
the  Austrian  Empire,  might  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the 
plans  of  Francis  Joseph  for  subduing  Hungary  into  a 
more   acquiescent   mood.     This   would   not   at  all   have 
suited  the  ambitions  of  those  who  had  carefully  watched, 
all  through  the  years  which  had  elapsed  since  Francis 
Joseph  and  his  lovely  consort  had  been  crowned  as  King 
and  Queen  of  Hungary,  for  the  opportunity  of  reducing 
Austria  to  the  condition  of  a  vassal  of  Hungary.    These 
men,  of  whom  Count  Tisza  was  one,  never  wavered  one 

152 


Count  Berchtold 

single  instant  in  the  line  of  policy  which  they  had  decided 
to  follow,  and  it  is  certain  that  at  the  end  of  the  Great 
War  Hungary  will  be  the  first  to  urge  the  incorporation 
of  Austria  into  the  vast  German  confederation,  thus 
levelling  her  to  the  condition  of  Bavaria  or  Wiirtem- 
berg.  At  the  same  moment  Hungary  will  proclaim 
herself  an  independent  kingdom,  smiling  upon  the  Slavs, 
and  furthering  the  emancipation  ideas  of  the  Czechs. 
Whether  this  kingdom  will  still  be  ruled  by  a  Habsburg 
or  not  remains  a  question  to  which  I  am  afraid  not  many 
Magyars  would  care  to  reply  to-day. 

Count  Berchtold  was  never  a  favourite  in  Budapest. 
For  one  thing,  he  had  too  much  Austrian  arrogance,  and 
though  he  had  married  a  Hungarian  lady — the  daughter 
of  Count  Karolyi — he  had  not  made  himself  at  home 
among  his  wife's  compatriots.  He  was  a  stickler  for 
etiquette,  and  the  free  and  easy  life  led  by  Hungarian 
aristocrats  in  Budapest,  as  well  as  in  their  country  resi- 
dences, had  not  appealed  to  him. 

The  Count  was  the  kind  of  man  who  likes  to  ride  in  a 

well-kept  park,  but  who  does  not  care  for  a  long  gallop 

in  the  country,  where  there  is  no  one  to  see  how  well 

he  can  manage  his  horse.    He  felt  more  at  ease  in  evening 

dress  than  in  uniform,  which  tired  him.     Unfortunately, 

he  allowed  everybody  to  guess  that  such  was  the  case, 

and  this  harmed  his  prestige  and  impaired  his  authority, 

as  well  as  his  influence.    Hungarian  statesmen,  however, 

showed  themselves  merciful,  and  gave  him  plenty  of  rope 

to  hang  himself  with.     For  many  months  after  the  war 

153 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

broke  out,  Count  Berchtold  was  allowed  to  do  what  he 
liked,  but  when  it  had  been  proved  beyond  dispute  that 
he  had  been  the  unconscious  tool  of  the  German  Ambassa- 
dor, Herr  von  Tschirsky,  Count  Tisza  intervened.  Count 
Berchtold  resigned,  and  Count  Tisza  repaired  to  Vienna, 
so  as  to  be  on  the  spot  when  the  question  of  finding  a 
successor  to  this  honest  but  not  far-seeing  man  arose. 
It  was  his  advice  and  his  policy  which  prevailed,  and 
Baron  Burian  was  appointed  Foreign  Minister  and 
Minister  of  the  Imperial  Household,  two  functions  which 
had  been  joined  together  at  the  Austrian  Court  ever  since 
the  days  of  Kaunitz  and  Marie  Therese. 

Burian  is  the  instrument  of  Count  Tisza  and  of  the 
party  to  which  the  latter  belongs.  He  will  work  exclu- 
sively for  Hungary,  and  she  will  always  remain  with  him 
the  first  consideration  in  all  that  he  does.  In  working 
for  Hungarian  independence,  he  will  also  play  into  the 
hands  of  Germany,  inasmuch  as  he  will  persuade  Francis 
Joseph — if  the  Emperor  is  still  alive  when  peace  comes 
to  be  discussed — that  the  only  chance  for  Austria  is  to 
enter  resolutely  and  of  her  own  accord  the  German  con- 
federation, putting  her  armies,  her  finances,  her  interior 
administration  and  her  foreign  policy  under  the  super- 
vision of  her  powerful  neighbour.  Thus  would  fall  the 
haughty  and  disdainful  Habsburgs  from  the  proud 
position  which  they  have  occupied  for  so  many  centuries 
without  ever  filling  it  worthily,  save  in  one  or  two  excep- 
tions. 

Once  Hungary  becomes  independent,  the  question  will 

154 


Hungarian  Ambitions 

necessarily  arise  as  to  who  will  be  accepted  by  the  nation 
as  its  King.  Personally,  my  opinion  is  that  it  will  prove 
'  exceedingly  difficult  for  the  Hungarians  to  get  rid  of  the 
present  dynasty,  the  more  so  that  no  one  will  know  what 
to  do  with  it  after  the  war.  It  is,  therefore,  not  unlikely 
that  the  present  heir  to  the  Dual  Monarchy,  the  Arch- 
duke Karl  Franz  Joseph,  will  be  called  upon  to  assume 
the  crown  of  St.  Stephen.  But  he  will  have  to  make 
his  choice  between  being  a  Roi  de  parade,  following 
the  dictates  of  the  parties  who  will  have  allowed  him  to 
ascend  the  throne,  or  being  dethroned  within  a  short 
time.  As  he  is  a  docile  young  man,  I  have  no  doubt 
that  he  will  resign  himself  to  his  fate  with  good  grace, 
accepting  all  the  privileges  but  none  of  the  responsibilities 
of  a  throne. 

The  question  will  then  arise  as  to  what  Hungary  will 
become  under  the  new  regime.  Will  she  go  on  develop- 
ing as  a  monarchy  with  which  the  world  will  have 
to  count  in  the  new  grouping  of  nations?  She  will 
undoubtedly  become  an  important  factor,  but  whether  it 
will  be  a  troublesome  one  or  not,  it  is  difficult  to  say, 
especially  for  one  who  has  not  been  recently  in  that  part 
of  the  world  and  who  has  been  deprived  of  any  contact 
with  the  political  men  of  a  country  that,  whatever  hap- 
pens, will  never  become  the  friend  of  Russia,  but  may 
occasionally  prove  a  dangerous  enemy. 

Society  in  Budapest  is  very  different  from  that  in 
Vienna.     It  offers  far  more  resources  to  the  foreigner, 

and  is  not  at  all  so  exclusive ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  most 

155 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

hospitable.  The  Magyars  are  still,  in  a  certain  sense, 
children  of  the  steppes,  with  all  the  generous  and  wild 
instincts  which  distinguished  the  semi-nomadic  nations 
that  once  inhabited  the  vast  plains  where  they  dwell 
to-day. 

The  Magyar  has  much  in  his  character  that  reminds 
one  of  the  Pole  :  the  same  brilliance  of  intellect,  the 
same  versatility.  He  possesses,  too,  I  must  confess,  the 
same  indifference  to  promises  made  and  friendships 
sworn ;  the  same  forgetf ulness  for  everything  that  does 
not  touch  him  or  his  feelings.  At  the  same  time  the 
Magyar  is  generous,  kind  in  his  way,  chivalrous  occasion- 
ally, though  cruel  sometimes  ;  and  though  untrustworthy, 
yet  never  deliberately  false.  His  conceptions  can  be 
immense,  and  he  generally  succeeds  in  carrying  them 
through.  He  is  brave,  and  ever  ready  to  avenge  with 
his  sword  any  grievances  he  fancies  he  has  against  his 
neighbour.  He  is  mostly  intelligent,  but  rarely  culti- 
vated, though  remarkably  well-learned  men  can  be  met 
with  in  Hungary.  The  upper  classes  are  mostly  sym- 
pathetic, and  make  you  feel  far  more  at  home  with 
them  than  the  Austrians,  in  spite  of  the  reputation  for 
bonhomie  which  the  latter  enjoy. 

Hungarian  women  are  mostly  pretty  and  fascinating, 
not  given  to  over-strictness  in  the  matter  of  conduct,  but 
always  ladylike ;  and,  though  indifferent  to  gossip,  they 
contrive  nevertheless  to  avoid  any  subject  of  scandal. 
One  does  not  find  in  Hungary  that  type  of  woman  who, 

through  disappointment  at  not  having  been  appreciated 

15t3 


Characteristics  of  Hungarian  Society 

by  any  man  as  his  life's  companion,  revenges  herself 
upon  those  who  have  not  met  the  same  fate,  by  tearing 
them  to  pieces  with  an  hypocritical  compassion  that  does 
more  harm  than  any  open  hostility  would  do.  One  also 
finds  but  rarely  dowagers  interested  in  nothing  else  but 
the  affairs  which  do  not  concern  them,  and  ever  ready  to 
give  advice  for  which  no  one  cares.  The  maliciousness 
which  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  upper  classes  in 
Austria  is  unknown  in  Hungary,  where  both  men  and 
women  are  too  much  occupied  by  various  pursuits  to 
waste  their  time  in  abusing  other  people.  The  desoeuvre- 
ment  of  all  the  Austrian  Serene  Highnesses  who  are 
expected  to  adorn  the  balls  and  the  festivities  of  the 
Hofburg  does  not  affect  Budapest  society,  who,  even  in 
the  cases  where  it  is  not  given  to  intellectual  pursuits, 
prefers  petting  its  children,  its  dogs  and  its  horses  to  the 
pleasure  of  slandering  those  who  do  not  deserve  it. 

In  winter  most  of  the  Hungarian  aristocracy  repairs 
to  the  capital,  where  it  entertains  each  other  with  much 
magnificence  and  great  display  of  family  diamonds,  of 
/  which  it  possesses  plenty.  All  the  receptions  given  at 
V  Budapest  are  most  sumptuous.  They  have  also  one 
advantage  which  is  never  to  be  met  with  in  Vienna  : 
they  afford  subjects  of  interesting  studies  to  the  foreigner 
whose  good  fortune  brings  him  to  them.  He  finds  himself 
thrown  amidst  surroundings  and  people  absolutely  differ- 
ent from  any  he  has  had  the  opportunity  to  see  before. 
One  may  or  may  not  like  Hungarians  ;  indeed,  it  is  hardly 

possible  that  their  character  will  ever  fully  appeal  to  other 

157 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

nations,  who  will  find  some  difficulty  in  understanding 
natures  where  the  greatest  generosity  is  combined  with 
an  unusual  degree  of  shrewdness,  and  some  untrust- 
worthiness  in  cases  where  they  think  that  their  own  par- 
ticular interests  are  threatened  or  endangered.  But  there 
is  one  thing  which  must  be  conceded  to  them  :  with  all 
their  faults,  they  are  ten  thousand  times  more  worthy 
than  the  Austrians.  Their  policy,  in  those  cases  where 
they  have  been  allowed  to  follow  one,  has  been  far  ^ 
superior  in  regard  to  morality  than  that  pursued  by  the 
various  Ministers  whom  Francis  Joseph  has  called  to  his 
help,  and  even  should  one  dislike  Hungarians,  yet  it  is 
impossible  to  despise  them. 


158 


CHAPTER   X 

AMONG   THE    POLES   AND   CZECHS 

THE  Austrian  Empire,  as  we  see  it  to-day,  is  an 
agglomeration  of  different  nationalities,  each  of 
whom  would  like  to  play  first  fiddle  to  a  tune  they  all, 
without  exception,  heartily  disHke.  The  German  popu- 
lation is  not  really  a  very  strong  element,  in  spite  of  all 
its  efforts  to  assert  itself.  After  the  Hungarians,  whose 
separatist  ideas  are  sure  to  be  realised  before  long,  the 
strong  factors  in  the  Monarchy  are  the  Poles  and  the 
Czechs.  The  Slavonic  elements,  which  comprise  Bosnia, 
Herzegovina,  a  part  of  Croatia  and  of  Bukowina,  are 
not  yet  powerful  enough  to  assert  themselves ;  they 
seek  protection  where  they  can  find  it — in  Servia,  in 
Russia,  or,  occasionally,  even  in  Turkey.  Thus,  while 
disturbing  and  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  world,  in 
regard  to  the  Empire  they  have  always  been  treated  as 
negligible  quantities. 

With  the  Poles  and  with  the  Czechs  it  is  a  very 
different  matter.  The  former  are  subserviently  faithful  to 
the  Habsburgs,  who  have  toadied  to  them,  caressed  them, 
exploited  them,  and  allowed  them  all  the  liberty  which 
they  cared  to  have,   simply  in  the  hope  of  being  able 

through  them  to  influence  the  inhabitants  of  the  Polish 

159 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within        * 

provinces  forming  part  of  the  Russian  Empire,  and  to 
inoculate  them  with  rebelhon. 

Before  the  war,  GaUcia  was  perhaps  the  most  con- 
tented province  in  the  dominions  of  Francis  Joseph.  It 
had  practically  as  much  independence  as  it  wanted,  was 
administered  almost  entirely  by  Polish  functionaries,  and 
was  allowed  to  speak  its  own  language  and  to  teach  it  in 
schools.  All  the  large  landowners  of  Polish  origin  and 
nationality  were  treated  with  quite  exceptional  defer- 
ence, and  found  the  doors  of  the  Hofburg  open  to 
them,  even  when  they  did  not  possess  numerous  quarter- 
ings  and  unimpeachable  pedigrees.  The  Poles,  moreover, 
responded  to  the  advances  that  were  made  to  them, 
and  showed  considerable  patriotism  in  regard  to  their 
financial  contributions  to  the  maintainence  of  the  Mon- 
archy from  which  they  had  obtained  recognition  of  their 
rights.  The  aristocracy  was,  for  the  most  part,  in- 
telligent, well  trained  and  highly  cultured.  It  could 
boast  of  brilliant  men,  lovely  women,  and  unlimited 
wealth ;  and  its  castles  and  residences  ranked  among  the 
finest  in  Europe. 

A  strong  anti-Russian  agitation  was  carried  on  in 
Galicia,  and  no  pains  were  spared  to  stir  up  disaffection 
against  the  Tsar  in  Volhynia,  Podolia  and  Ukraine  in  the 
South  of  Russia  and  in  the  provinces  comprising  the 
kingdom  of  Poland.  It  is  well  to  imderstand  this 
thoroughly  in  view  of  the  great  part  which  Poland  is 
bound  to  play  in  the  peace  deliberations  which,  some  day, 
uuist  be  engaged  in.     The  Poles  are  devoted  to  Austria, 

160 


Experiences  in  Poland 

and  their  protestations  of  fidelity  to  Russia,  except  in  a 
few  isolated  cases,  spring  from  nothing  but  fear  of  being 
compromised,  and  the  not  unnatural  desire  to  remain 
upon  good  terms  with  the  wolf,  as  well  as  with  the  goat, 
which  the  wolf  would  like  to  eat. 

Before  the  war  broke  out,  and  at  a  time  when  no  one 
jHvas  even  thinking  about  its  possibility,  I  happened  to 
discuss  the  situation  of  Poland  with  some  Poles  who, 
since  they  lived  in  Petersburg,  might  be  expected  to  have 
acquired  Russian  sympathies,  and  I  found  that  all  of  them 
were  dreaming  of  the  time  when  it  would  become  possible 
for  a  new  Poland  to  come  to  life  under  the  protection  of 
the  Austrian  crown,  with  an  Archduke  at  its  head.  They 
already  had  one  candidate  for  the  post  of  Polish  King — 
the  Archduke  Charles  Stephen,  who  Uved  at  the  gates  of 
the  Polish  town  of  Cracow  in  a  beautiful  castle  called 
Saybusch,  who  spoke  Polish  Hke  a  native,  who  had  only 
Polish  servants  around  him.  Further  to  cement  his 
position,  the  Archduke  had  married  two  of  his  daughters 
to  young  men  bearing  some  of  the  proudest  of  Polish 
names,  one  a  Prince  Radziwill,  and  the  other  a  Prince 
Czartoryski,  cousin  fifty  times  removed  from  the  head  of 
that  illustrious  house,  who  was  himself  an  officer  in  the 
Austrian  army. 

It  was  toward  the  Archduke  Charles  Stephen  that  the 
thoughts  of  aristocratic  Poland  were  turned ;  it  was  he 
whom  the  Poles  hoped  one  day  to  w^elcome  as  their 
King.  The  Habsburgs  really  have  shown  ability  in  their 
systematic  efforts  to  win  the  affections  of  the  Poles, 
L  161 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

though,  of  course,  they  have  been  helped  by  Polish  hatred 
for  Russia  and  the  House  of  Romanoff. 

What  I  have  just  said  does  not  apply  to  the  Polish 
middle  classes,  who  have  not  the  same  reasons  for  satis- 
faction with  Austrian  rule  as  their  more  fortunate 
brothers.  They  had  the  brunt  of  the  burden  to  bear,  but 
did  not  get  fiche  de  consolation,  as  one  says  in  French,  to 
excessive  taxation,  in  the  possibility  of  being  welcomed 
in  the  select  circles  of  Vienna  Society,  and  of  being  made 
much  of  at  the  Hofburg.  They,  together  with  the 
peasantry,  saw  the  unpleasant  aspects  of  the  situation,  and 
were  not  so  much  delighted  with  the  Austrian  Govern- 
ment as  the  latter  would  have  liked  them  to  be.  On  the 
other  hand,  this  did  not  make  the  Poles  more  inclined 
to  look  toward  Russia  as  a  possible  deliverer.  On  the 
contrary,  it  induced  them  to  nurse  dreams  of  independ- 
ence, and  to  long  for  the  day  when  their  rights  would 
have  to  be  acknowledged.  They  would  not,  however, 
have  shown  themselves  averse  to  the  reconstitution  of 
their  old  kingdom  under  an  Archduke ;  and  this  is  where 
the  ability  of  the  Austrian  Government  showed  itself  in 
quite  an  extraordinary  manner.  It  contrived  to  assure 
itself  of  a  preponderance  in  GaHcia,  so  that  even  should 
this  province  happen  to  be  torn  asunder  from  the  Em- 
pire and  granted  independence,  it  would  find  itself  with 
a  member  of  the  Habsburg  dynasty  at  its  head,  who  could 
keep  more  or  less  intact  the  links  which  bound  Galicia  to 
the  Austrian  Empire. 

The  Poles  realised  this  position,  but  it  did  not  disturb 

162 


ARCHDUKE   KARL  FRANZ  JOSEPH 


Prospects  of  Further  Trouble 

their  equanimity  in  the  very  least.  They  did  not  mind 
remaining  under  the  ostensible  protection  of  the  Govern- 
ment, whatever  it  might  be,  which  ruled  in  Vienna.  On 
the  contrary,  this  fact  gave  them  a  security  for  the  future. 
What  they  required  was  the  restoration  of  an  old  order 
of  things  which  would  allow  each  Polish  citizen  the  right 
to  intrigue  against  his  fellows.  For  this  is  what  the  in- 
dependence of  Poland  will  mean,  if  it  ever  becomes  a 
reality.  It  will  open  for  Europe  an  era  of  trouble,  such 
as  we  have  witnessed  in  the  Balkans  since  the  war  of  1877 
called  into  existence  an  independent  Bulgaria.  Poland 
will  prove  a  bone  of  contention  for  the  whole  of  the 
European  continent.  It  will  remain  a  permanent  danger 
to  the  security  of  the  world,  and  cause  endless  trouble  to 
everybody,  owing  to  the  character  of  the  people,  their 
restlessness,  their  conviction  that  each  of  them  has  as 
much  right  to  rule  his  neighbours  and  his  country  as  the 
other.  Their  secret  and  unavowed  longing  is  for  the 
restoration  of  their  ancient  constitution,  which  had  for 
its  first  principle  the  institution  of  an  elective  monarchy 
that  opened  the  field  for  every  private  ambition. 

An  independent  kingdom  of  Poland,  such  as  some 
people  dream  about,  and  such  as  the  German  Government 
would  like  to  see  come  into  existence  under  a  Sovereign 
belonging  to  the  House  of  Habsburg,  would  not  have  ten 
years'  existence.  For  one  thing,  there  would  be  found  at 
once  men  belonging  to  illustrious  families,  that  in  the 
past  have  played  a  great  part  in  the  history  of  their 

country,  who  would  put  forward,  either  openly,  or  in 

163 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

secret  through  their  supporters,  the  rights  which  they 
would  imagine  entitled  them  to  become  invested  with  the 
kingly  dignity. 

Among  these  notables,  Prince  Czartoryski,  the  head 
of  that  family,  would  immediately  step  forward,  and 
would  find  rivals  in  the  Zamoyskis,  Potockis,  Lubomir- 
skis,  and  all  the  other  "  skis,"  of  whom  so  many  abound 
in  Poland ;  and  one  and  all  would  work  together,  though 
against  each  other,  for  the  destruction  of  the  new  State. 

A  lot  has  been  said  about  Polish  patriotism,  but  the 
only  salvation  for  Poland  consists  in  an  autonomy  under 
the  protection  of  the  Russian  Government,  which  alone  is 
powerful  enough  to  protect  it  against  outside  aggression 
and  against  itself.  If  left  alone  and  abandoned  to  its  own 
instincts,  Poland  would  rush  to  certain  destruction. 

But  the  Polish  element  is  not  the  only  one  existing  in 
Galicia.  There  are  the  Ruthenians,  who  have  been  the 
objects  of  a  persistent  Austrian  persecution,  which, 
especially  in  the  years  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
had  assumed  considerable  proportions.  The  Ruthenians 
mostly  belong  to  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  and  their 
language  is  that  Little  Russian  which  is  spoken  through- 
out the  Ukraine,  from  Poltava  and  Chernigov  down  to 
Kiev  and  the  mouth  of  the  Dnieper.  They  also  have 
nursed  since  time  immemorial  the  dream  of  seeing  their 
own  nationality  win  its  independence.  Thej^  have 
cherished  the  warmest  sympathies  for  Russia,  and  when 
the    Russian    troops    occupied    Galicia    and    a    part    of 

Bukowina,  they  made  no  secret  of  their  hopes  of  escaping, 

164 


The  Ruthenians 

by  Russian  intervention,  from  Austrian  rule,  and  of  being 
reunited  to  their  countrymen  across  the  frontier. 

Austria  will  have  to  reckon  with  the  Ruthenians  in 
the  final  settlement.  They  will  strongly  object  to  being 
merged  into  a  new  kingdom  of  Poland,  yet  upon  this  the 
Polish  party  will  certainly  insist.  It  is  to  be  hoped  for  the 
future  peace  of  Europe  that  the  claims  of  the  Ruthenians 
will  be  recognised  ;  otherwise  there  will  be  endless  trouble, 
the  revival  of  old  religious  controversies,  and  the  awaken- 
ing of  even  stronger  political  hatreds  than  those  which 
already  exist  between  the  two  rival  nationalities,  that 
are  ever  in  dispute  for  supremacy  in  Galicia. 

The  old  standing  quarrel  of  the  Ruthenian  and  Polish 
elements  that  has  raged  in  Galicia  so  long  as  history  can 
remember  has  had  far  more  to  do  with  the  present  war 
than  the  general  public  supposes.  It  has  been  one  of  the 
causes  of  the  distrust  and  antipathy  which  exists  between 
Austria  and  Russia,  and  has  been  further  complicated  by 
religious  questions. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Ruthenians  were  the 
original  possessors  of  Galicia,  which  the  Poles  wrested 
from  them,  together  with  a  considerable  portion  of 
Ukraine,  which,  however,  they  had  to  return  later  on  to 
Russia.  Since  their  conversion  to  Christianity  they  have 
followed  the  rites  of  the  Greek  Church,  notwithstanding 
all  the  attempts  made  to  convert  them  by  Roman  Catholic 
clergy ;  and  they  have  transmitted  from  father  to  son 
their  hopes  of  being  one  day  reunited  to  their  brothers 
across  the  frontier  in  that  "  Boitsse,"  as  they  call  it,  with 

165 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

whom  so  many  remembrances  and  so  many  traditions 
bind  them.  They  have  always  disUked  the  Poles  and 
they  hate  the  Austrians  and,  in  particular,  the  Catholic 
priests.  During  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  a  strong 
separatist  movement  has  been  gaining  strength  in  Galicia 
among  the  Ruthenian  population,  a  movement  that  has 
been  undoubtedly  encouraged  by  the  various  Slav  com- 
mittees in  Russia,  which  have  displayed  considerable 
activity  in  regard  to  the  propaganda  they  have  carried  on 
in  favour  of  Russia.  The  Austrian  Government,  of 
course,  became  aware  of  it,  and  in  its  turn  brought 
pressure  to  bear  on  the  Ruthenians,  imprisoned  all  the 
leaders  of  the  so-called  Russian  party,  and  persecuted 
many  people  who  seemed  to  be  favouring  the  separatist 
movement  in  Galicia  as  well  as  in  Bukowina. 

It  is  very  probable  that  Austria  will  try,  in  the  event 
of  a  restoration  of  the  independence  of  Poland,  to  insist 
on  the  Ruthenians  being  handed  over.  This  ought  to  be 
opposed  by  the  Allies  by  all  means,  because  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  hope  that  the  Ruthenians  will  submit  to 
this  end  of  all  their  aspirations  and  desires,  and  it  is 
certain  to  start  a  continual  warfare  with  the  Poles.  All 
these  things  would  be  fraught  with  many  dangers  to  the 
peace  of  Europe.  Galicia,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  is 
not  Polish,  but  Russian — at  least,  its  southern  part  is — 
and  to  Russia  it  must  return  if  one  wants  to  avoid  con- 
tinual recurrences  of  political  worries  and  quarrels,  con- 
nected with  the  fight  of  its  Ruthenian  population  for 

liberty  and  independence  in  all  matters  connected  with 

166 


The  Czechs 

its  language  and  religion,  which  bind  it  so  closely  to 
Russia. 

After  the  Hungarian  and  the  Polish  questions,  the 
one  which  perhaps  has  caused  the  most  annoyance  to  the 
Austrian  Government  has  been  that  of  the  Czechs.  This 
is  such  a  complicated  matter  that  I  doubt  whether  six 
persons  could  be  found  in  the  whole  of  Austria  to  explain 
it  in  the  same  w^ay.  At  the  bottom  of  the  whole  problem 
lies  the  separatist  movement  of  the  Czech  element  in 
Bohemia.  The  Czechs  consider  themselves  as  the  rightful 
masters  of  Bohemia,  and  would  like  to  see  it  granted  the 
autonomy  without  which,  they  think,  it  cannot  develop 
its  material  prosperity  as  it  ought  to  do. 

The  Czechs  claim  to  be  considered  as  a  separate  king- 
dom, and  would  wish  their  King  first  to  be  crowned  at 
Prague,  then  to  reside  a  few  months  of  every  year  in  his 
Royal  residence  of  the  Hradschin,  and  afterwards  to  allow 
the  country  to  be  administered  only  by  Czech  function- 
aries. What  would  please  them  the  most  would  be  to 
become  an  independent  kingdom,  not  governed  from 
Vienna,  and  not  obhged  to  endorse  the  quarrels  of  either 
the  Habsburg  dynasty  or  of  Austria  in  general. 

Unfortunately  for  these  aspirations,  the  majority  of 
great  landowners  in  Bohemia  are  Germans,  and  will  not 
hear  of  the  possibility  of  being  ruled  by  Czechs.  They 
are  strong  unionists,  and  as  their  support  is  indispensable 
to  the  Government,  the  latter  cannot  afford  to  disregard 
their  wishes.  It  is,  therefore,  compelled  in  a  certain 
sense  to  allow  them  a  free  hand  in  the  administration  of 

167 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

the  province,  and  also  to  permit  them  to  crush,  as  far  as 
it  is  in  their  power,  the  hated  and  despised  Czechs. 

The  Czechs,  being  aware  of  the  fact,  return  this 
dishke,  and  thus  a  most  strained  situation  has  arisen,  to 
which  no  solution  is  to  be  found — at  least  for  the  present. 
The  Germans  are  the  stronger,  and  their  number  includes 
the  members  of  the  most  wealthy  and  powerful  families 
of  Bohemia,  such  as  the  Schwarzenbergs,  the  Thuns,  the 
Clary s,  and  many  more  whom  it  would  take  too  long  to 
recall. 

The  Choteks,  to  whom  belonged  the  Duchess  of 
Hohenberg,  have  been  credited  with  Czech  sympathies, 
but  this  has  not  been  proved,  and  very  likely  the  Duchess 
was  the  only  member  of  that  family  who  ever  indulged 
in  any,  for  the  reason  that  she  would  have  liked  to  have 
the  Czechs  on  her  side  when  the  question  arose  as  to  her 
future  status  in  the  world.  At  all  events,  she  affected 
great  affection  for  them,  and  liked  to  boast  of  her  Czech 
origin,  though  she  could  not  speak  the  Bohemian 
language,  and  had  hardly  ever  lived  in  Bohemia  before 
her  marriage,  her  parents  having  almost  constantly  resided 
abroad. 

The  natural  antipathy  of  the  German  landowners  for 
the  native  population  of  the  country,  from  which  they 
drew  the  greater  portion  of  their  immense  wealth,  did 
not  lead  them  to  forsake  it  and  to  live  in  Austria.  On 
the  contrary,  they  all  very  much  preferred  Prague  to 
Vienna,  and  the  picturesque  old  city  on  the  Moldau  boasts 
of  a  winter  season  which  is  far  more  brilliant  and  animated 

168 


Bohemian  Antipathies 

than  that  of  the  Austrian  capital.  The  palaces  of  the 
Bohemian  aristocracy  are  splendid,  and  the  receptions 
given  there  would  not  disgrace  any  of  the  great  cities  in 
Europe ;  but  the  societ)^  which  one  meets  is  extremely 
exclusive  and  confines  its  circle  of  acquaintances  to  its 
own  members,  a  fact  which  adds  to  the  irritation  with 
which  it  is  viewed  by  the  Bohemian  or  Czech  families, 
who,  in  consequence,  feel  themselves  scorned  and  belittled. 
Nowhere  are  the  differences  of  social  position  felt  more 
keenly  than  in  ancient  Prague ;  nowhere  can  one  observe 
such  permanent  hatred  amongst  people  who  ought  to  work 
together  for  one  common  aim  and  for  the  furtherance  of 
their  mutual  interests. 

In  Russia  great  hopes  have  been  built  on  this  state 
of  affairs,  and  the  belief  exists  that  the  Czechs,  being 
Slavs,  are  in  sympathy  with  Russia,  and  would  not  be 
averse  to  recovering  their  former  independence  by  means 
of  Russian  intervention.  This  idea  is  essentially  false. 
There  is  absolutely  no  affection  in  Bohemia  for  Russia, 
and  the  difference  of  religion  alone  would  render  a  union 
between  the  two  countries  totally  impossible,  even  if  the 
Czechs  did  not  fear  Russia,  in  whom,  so  far  from  seeing 
a  deliverer,  they  dread  to  discover  an  oppressor. 

There  are  some  people  who  think  they  are  acting 

cleverly  by  preaching,  to  the  few  who  consent  to  listen 

to  them,  a  union  of  all  the  Slav  elements  in  Europe  under 

the  protection  of  Russia.     But  no  one  takes  them  very 

seriously.    The  Czechs  would  feel  very  sorry  indeed  to  be 

absorbed  into  Russia,  and,  from  the  geographical  point 

169 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

of  view  alone,  I  fail  to  see  how  such  a  thing  could  ever 
become  possible. 

What  the  Czechs  wish  to  secure  is  autonomy,  if  not 
complete  independence ;  the  power  to  have  a  parlia- 
ment of  their  own,  and  a  limitation  of  the  influence  of 
the  great  landowners,  who  hitherto  have  controlled  all 
local  affairs,  even  those  in  which  they  have  not  been 
directly  interested.  Faihng  this,  they  would  prefer,  in 
case  of  annexation  to  any  other  country,  to  be  reunited 
with  Poland,  should  Poland  ever  live  again.  The  fact  that 
there  are  numerous  Czech  colonists  in  the  South  of  Russia 
does  not  prove  in  the  very  least  that  these  colonists  are 
animated  with  kindly  feelings  in  regard  to  Russia.  They 
have  simply  migrated  to  Podolia  or  Volhynia  because 
these  provinces  contain  a  considerable  proportion  of  Poles 
among  their  inhabitants,  with  whom  Bohemians  have 
always  been  on  most  friendly  terms,  and  in  whom  they 
have  found  a  warm  and  ready  support  against  the  exac- 
tions and  extortions  of  the  Russian  police  and  officials. 
That  lately  an  active  propaganda  has  been  carried  on 
among  Czechs  in  favour  of  Russia  is  an  imdeniable  fact, 
but  this  propaganda  has  not  won  followers.  If  the  Russian 
Government  thinks  it  can  find  supporters  in  Bohemia 
against  Austria,  it  is  vastly  mistaken.  Indeed,  it  is  far 
more  probable  that  the  whole  province  would  rise  against 
Russian  troops,  should  any  ever  appear  on  the  banks  of 
the  Moldau  or  within  the  walls  of  Prague. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  to  the  ignorant  Czechs, 

Russians  are  idolaters  and  schismatics,  whom  they  have 

170 


German  Tyranny 

been  told  by  their  clergy  to  abhor ;  and  the  clergy  is  still 
all-powerful  amongst  them. 

But  putting  aside  the  question  of  a  union  with  Russia, 
upon  which  Russians  would  do  wisely  not  to  reckon  too 
much,  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  sooner  or  later — very 
likely  as  a  consequence  of  the  present  war — Bohemia 
will  recover  its  independence,  and  detach  itself  from  the 
Habsburgs.  Together  with  Hungary,  it  will  achieve 
independence,  though  it  is  not  likely  to  accept  a  member 
of  the  reigning  Austrian  dynasty  as  its  King,  but  will 
either  elect  a  foreign  prince  or  else  proclaim  itself  a 
republic.  Francis  Joseph  has  completely  destroyed  the 
last  remnants  of  popularity  which  his  House  had  ever 
possessed  in  Bohemia.  By  his  utter  disregard  of  the 
wishes  of  the  Czechs,  by  the  open  manner  in  which  he 
lent  himself  to  the  tyranny  the  German  section  of  the 
population  exercised,  by  the  avowed  protection  which  he 
has  continually  awarded  to  that  portion  of  the  aristocracy 
of  the  province  which  was  of  Austrian  origin  or  in 
thorough  sympathy  wdth  the  methods  of  the  Austrian 
Government,  he  has  given  to  his  Bohemian  subjects  the 
idea  that  he  would  never  lend  himself  to  any  amelioration 
of  the  conditions  under  which  thej^  live.  On  the  contrarjs 
they  believe  he  w^ould  seek  to  destroy  all  their  aspira- 
tions toward  autonomy.  Nowhere  has  the  tyranny  of 
Austrian  rule  been  felt  more  acutely  than  in  Bohemia. 

The   separatist  tendencies   of  the    Czechs   are   daily 

increasing  in  importance  and  in  activity,  and  soon  will  not 

consent  to  be  checked  or  even  kept  at  bay.     Already 

171 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

many  voices  are  heard  to  say  that  the  hour  has  struck 
when  an  effort  must  be  made  to  force  the  Austrian 
Government  to  recognise  the  just  claims  of  the  Czech 
population.  Very  soon  these  voices  will  become  so  loud 
and  so  numerous  that  Francis  Joseph  and  his  Ministers 
will  find  themselves  facing  a  situation  with  which  it  is  not 
likely  they  will  ever  be  able  to  deal.  They  will  be  con- 
fronted with  the  dilemma  of  submitting  to  the  claims  of 
the  province  of  Bohemia,  whose  bid  for  freedom  other 
parts  of  the  Austrian  Empire  would  immediately  emulate, 
or  of  attempting  onee  more  to  crush  with  its  iron  hand 
the  aspirations  of  a  people  who  knows  its  wants  and  how 
to  get  them. 

Unfortunately,  the  latter  decision  is  most  probably  the 
one  they  will  take,  and  it  will  begin  an  era  of  civil  wars 
that  will  end  with  the  total  disintegration  of  the  ancient 
realm  of  the  Habsburgs. 


172 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  LAST  LOVE  AFFAIR  OF  THE  HABSBURGS 

1HAVE  already  mentioned  the  Archduke  Frederick, 
and  said  that  owing  to  his  enormous  fortune  he 
occupies  a  considerable  position  in  the  family  circle  of 
the  Habsburgs.  His  marriage,  too,  was  a  romantic  one, 
but  it  was  perfectly  "respectable,"  and,  in  spite  of  the 
difiGiculties  that  it  occasioned  at  first,  ended  like  a  fairy 
tale,  by  the  happiness  of  the  people  engaged  in  it. 

The  Princess  Isabella  of  Croy,  who  won  the  affections 
of  the  youthful  Archduke,  as  he  was  at  the  time,  belonged 
to  one  of  the  proudest  half  German  and  half  Belgian 
families  who  have  been  recognised  as  capable  of  matching 
with  Royalty  and  of  giving  their  daughters  to  Sovereigns, 
without  the  latter  committing  a  breach  of  the  regulations 
which  rule  the  marriages  of  reigning  houses.  She  was, 
moreover,  a  clever  and  enterprising  lady,  who  determined 
from  the  very  day  that  she  was  accepted  as  an  Arch- 
duchess to  become  a  power  in  the  family  that  had  received 
her,  though  not  with  open  arms,  at  least  with  that  cold 
courtesy  which  was  all  she  had  expected.  Isabella,  how- 
ever, in  no  way  applied  herself  to  propitiate  her  nearest 
relatives ;  she  set  out  to  make  a  personal  position  for 
herself,  not  only  among  the  employers  and  tenants  on 

173 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

her  husband's  immense  estates,  but  especially  in  Vienna, 
where  Society  had  viewed  her  arrival  with  a  certain 
apprehension.  Still,  she  soon  made  herself  thoroughly  at 
home,  far  more  than  in  Hungary,  where  lived  at  that 
time  her  own  eldest  sister,  the  Princess  Eugenie  (or  Nini, 
as  she  was  familiarly  called  in  Budapest)  Esterhazy,  the 
wife  of  the  head  of  that  illustrious  family.  Princess  Nini 
had  made  herself  so  thoroughly  and  so  immensely  popular 
among  the  Hungarians  that  her  sister's  personality.  Arch- 
duchess though  she  was,  found  itself  overlooked  in  conse- 
quence. 

Now  this  was  the  last  thing  which  Isabella  could  for- 
give, and  consequently  she  did  not  take  kindly  to  the 
Hungarians,  and  avoided  frequent  visits  to  Budapest,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  she  lived  for  a  few  years  at  Pres- 
bourg,  where  the  Archduke  had  a  military  command. 
The  early  years  of  the  couple's  married  life  were  spent 
at  Presbourg,  until  the  death  of  Archduke  Albert  put  his 
nephew  in  possession  of  all  his  wealth,  and  caused  him 
to  transfer  his  residence  to  the  palace  in  Vienna  which, 
as  well  as  the  ancestral  castle,  now  claimed  him  as  its 
master. 

But  as  years  went  on,  and  especially  after  the  death 

of  the  Princess  Esterhazy,  who  died  in  the  flower  of  her 

youth,  the  Archduchess  Isabella  forgave  the  Hungarians. 

She  struck  up  a  great  friendship  with  the  Archduchess 

Marie  Josepha,  the  mother  of  the  future  heir  to  the 

throne,  as  well  as  with  the  Emperor's  daughter,  Marie 

Valerie,  and  these  three  ladies  formed  themselves  into  a 

174 


The  Archduchess  Isabella 

kind  of  league  against  the  Duchess  of  Hohenberg,  the 
morganatic  wife  of  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand. 
They  secured  for  themselves  the  good  graces  of  the 
Emperor,  who,  when  influenced  by  someone  other  than 
Frau  Schratt,  used  to  listen  to  his  daughter.  She,  in  her 
turn,  often  played  the  game  of  her  two  cousins,  especially 
of  Isabella,  who,  clever,  brilliant,  and  of  an  enterprising 
turn  of  mind,  soon  became  a  personage  of  decided  influ- 
ence in  the  Imperial  Family. 

A  number  of  children  were  born  to  the  Archduchess 
Isabella.  Six  daughters  came  in  rapid  succession,  to  the 
despair  of  their  parents.  They  yearned,  though,  for  a 
son,  who  arrived  after  everyone  had  ceased  hoping  for  his 
advent.  When  he  was  born,  his  eldest  sister  was  already 
eighteen  years  of  age.  The  question  of  her  marriage 
had  arisen  more  than  once,  and  considerably  preoccupied 
her  mother.  The  Archduchess  Isabella  had  been  very 
ambitious  in  regard  to  her  girls,  and  had  nursed  the 
dream  of  seeing  one  of  them  wed  the  Archduke  Francis 
Ferdinand,  her  cousin,  and  the  other  the  young  King  of 
Spain.  Both  these  plans,  about  which  she  had  plotted  and 
schemed  for  years,  fell  through  because,  in  spite  of  a  stay 
of  several  weeks  at  Madrid  as  the  guests  of  the  Dowager 
Queen  of  Spain,  a  sister  of  the  Archduke  Frederick, 
the  latter's  daughter,  Marie  Christine,  failed  to  impress 
Alphonso  XIII.,  who  already  had  in  view  the  English 
marriage  he  was  to  contract  later. 

The  young  Archduchess  ended  by  making  a  love 
marriage  with  the  Hereditary  Prince  of  Salm  Salm,  the 

175 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

future  head  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  illustrious 
families  of  which  Germany  can  boast,  and  the  heir  to 
considerable  riches.  Her  sister  Marie  Anne — whom  her 
mother  had  wanted  to  wed  the  heir  to  the  Austrian  crown, 
when  the  Countess  Sophy  Chotek  had  carried  him  away, 
as  it  were,  under  her  very  eyes — became  the  wife  of 
Prince  Elie  of  Parma.  Another  of  the  young  Arch- 
duchesses, Marie  Henrietta,  gave  her  hand  to  the  present 
Austrian  Ambassador  in  Berlin,  Prince  Godfrey  of 
Hohenlohe  Schillingsfiirst,  and  now  merely  lives  the  life 
of  a  private  lady  of  high  rank. 

It  was  another  sister  of  these  young  Princesses — called 
Isabella,  after  their  mother — who  was  by  a  strange  freak 
of  destiny  to  become  the  heroine  of  one  of  those  romances 
for  which  the  House  of  Habsburg  has  so  often  been 
famous,  a  romance  that  nearly  ended  the  other  day  by 
making  her  renounce  all  the  privileges  of  her  birth  to 
become  the  wife  of  a  simple  doctor,  with  whom  she  had 
fallen  in  love  whilst  nursing  in  a  Red  Cross  hospital  to 
which  she  was  attached  under  the  name  of  Sister  Irmgard. 

The  existence  of  this  Archduchess  had  indeed  been  an 
eventful  one.  She  was  wedded  at  the  age  of  twenty -four 
to  Prince  George  of  Bavaria,  whose  mother,  the  Arch- 
duchess Gisela,  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph,  whilst  by  his  father.  Prince  Leopold,  he 
was  the  grandson  of  the  late  Prince  Regent  of  Bavaria. 
This  young  man  had  always  had  a  queer  reputation,  and 
not  many  mothers  would  have  cared  to  give  him  their 
girls ;  but,  speaking  from  the  worldly  point  of  view,  he 

176 


Princess  Isabella  of  Croy 

was  one  of  the  best  matches  in  Europe  :  rich,  young, 
handsome,  and  highly  connected.  He  seemed  to  have 
been  genuinely  in  love  with  his  fiancee,  who,  being  kept 
very  strictly  at  home,  was  perhaps  not  so  very  sorry  to 
escape  the  hard  rule  of  her  mother.  The  Archduchess 
Gisela,  on  her  side,  was  delighted  to  see  her  son  settle  at 
last,  after  the  rather  adventurous  life  which  he  had  led, 
and  which  had  occasioned  her  considerable  apprehensions. 

Prince  George  had  always  been  a  favourite  with  his 
grandfather,  Francis  Joseph,  who,  delighted  to  find  that 
he  had  become  engaged  to  one  of  his  cousins,  gave 
magnificent  wedding  presents  to  the  young  couple  and, 
moreover,  settled  a  handsome  sum  of  money  upon  them. 

By  command  of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph,  the 
wedding  took  place  at  Schonbrunn,  being  solemnised 
with  that  exceeding  pomp  which  the  Austrian  Court 
alone  knows  how  to  display.  The  bride  appeared  quite 
lovely  under  the  priceless  lace  veil  that  had  formerly 
belonged  to  the  Empress  Elisabeth,  and  which  the 
latter's  daughter  Gisela  had  given  that  same  morning  to 
her  son's  future  wife.  After  a  wedding  breakfast  at 
which  the  Emperor  himself  proposed  the  health  of  the 
newly  married  pair,  they  started  for  the  Castle  of  Laxen- 
burg,  which  had  been  put  by  the  Sovereign  at  their 
disposal  for  the  honeymoon. 

What  took  place  there  is  difficult  to  know  or  relate, 
and,  after  all,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  tale. 
But  at  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  dishevelled 

female  figure  knocked  at  the  gates  of  the  Vienna  palace 

M  177 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

of  the  Archduke  Frederick,  and  insisted  on  being  ad- 
mitted, making  herself  known  as  the  Archduchess 
Isabella,  the  bride  of  a  few  hours  before.  To  her  father 
and  mother,  who  hastened  to  her,  she  would  say  nothing, 
but  merely  sobbed  in  an  uncontrollable  attack  of  distress, 
and  implored  them  to  take  her  back  under  their  roof,  and 
never  to  allow  her  to  return  to  a  husband  with  whom 
she  declared  no  human  persuasion  could  or  would  ever 
induce  her  to  live,  even  for  one  single  hour. 

The  consternation  caused  by  this  catastrophe  was 
indescribable.  Of  course  the  Emperor  had  to  be 
acquainted  with  it,  and  the  old  Sovereign's  distress,  for 
once,  was  very  genuine.  He  tried  to  preach  resignation 
to  his  niece,  and,  sending  for  his  grandson,  gave  him  a 
piece  of  his  mind,  telling  him  that  it  was  his  duty  to  see 
if  he  could  not  persuade  the  Princess  to  forgive  the  insults 
which  he  had  put  upon  her,  and  resume  her  life  with 
him.  But  all  these  efforts,  added  to  those  of  the  Arch- 
duchess Isabella — who  did  not  care  in  the  least  to  have 
her  daughter  returned  to  her  like  a  bad  penny — and  of 
the  Archduchesses  Gisela  and  Marie  Valerie,  who  came 
to  lend  her  a  helping  hand,  proved  absolutely  unavailing. 
The  young  bride  refused  either  to  be  comforted  or  to 
listen  to  the  exhortations  which  were  poured  on  her  from 
all  sides,  and  she  declared  that  if  her  parents  persisted  in 
their  refusal  to  take  her  back,  she  would  enter  a  convent. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  would  have  happened  had 

not  the  father  confessor  of  the  family  interfered.     He 

tried  to  persuade  the  young  girl  that  it  was  her  duty  to 

178 


A  Startling  Episode 

try  at  least  to  convert  her  husband  to  better  principles ; 
at  all  events,  she  ought  to  give  him  another  chance  before 
refusing  definitely  to  remain  with  him.  Isabella  yielded, 
after  having  stipulated  that  she  was  to  be  given  three 
months  of  liberty  before  resvuning  the  existence  which 
was  so  repugnant  to  her,  after  which  she  promised  she 
would  make  an  attempt  to  overcome  the  disgust  and 
the  loathing  with  which  her  husband  of  a  few  hours 
inspired  her. 

She  spent  the  time  of  probation  at  a  shooting-box  of 
her  father's  in  the  Tyrol,  where  she  led  a  quiet  and  free 
existence,  and  honestly  tried  to  persuade  herself  to  accept 
with  resignation  the  sad  fate  which  had  befallen  her, 
and  to  which  she  knew  she  could  never  reconcile  herself 
entirely.  When  the  delay  for  which  she  had  pleaded  had 
come  to  an  end,  her  mother-in-law,  the  Archduchess 
Gisela,  came  to  fetch  her  and  brought  her  to  Munich, 
showing  her  great  kindness  and  sympathy.  The  whole 
Bavarian  Royal  Family  awaited  her,  and  showered  upon 
her  much  attention  and  affection.  With  a  breaking 
heart,  she  resigned  herself  to  begin  an  existence  which 
she  loathed  even  before  she  knew  what  it  would  be. 

The  experiment  did  not  last  long.  After  one  short 
fortnight  the  Archduchess  Isabella  left  her  palace  by  a 
back  door  one  morning,  before  day  had  broken,  and  was 
driven  in  a  cab  to  the  railway  station.  She  had  only  taken 
one  small  bag  with  her,  and  was  absolutely  unattended, 
even  by  a  maid.  The  same  night  saw  her  arrive  at  Vienna, 
where  she  at  once  sought  the  one  person  in  the  Imperial 

179 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

Family  who  had  enough  authority  to  protect  her  effec- 
tually, if  she  wished  to  do  so — the  Archduchess  Marie 
Therese,  her  aunt.  The  young  Archduchess  related  to 
her  all  the  details  concerning  her  conjugal  life,  which  she 
had  never  dared  to  divulge  to  anyone  before,  imploring 
her  at  the  same  time  to  save  her  from  a  fate  which  she 
considered  as  infinitely  worse  than  death  itself. 

Marie  Therese  was  a  good  woman.  She  comforted 
her  niece,  consoled  her,  and  assured  her  that  no  one  would 
molest  her  so  long  as  she  remained  under  her  roof.  The 
next  day  she  went  to  see  the  Emperor,  and,  in  her  turn, 
unfolded  to  him  the  sad  story  of  the  Princess  Isabella's 
misfortunes. 

Hard  and  callous  as  Francis  Joseph  generally  showed 
himself  in  such  cases,  he  had  nevertheless  to  acknowledge 
that  his  beloved  grandson  had  acted  quite  inexcusably 
toward  his  young  wife ;  and  w^hen  he  heard  his  stern  and 
rigid  sister-in-law,  whose  Catholic  principles  stood  so 
high,  assure  him  that  the  only  thing  which  he  could  do 
was  to  use  his  influence  in  Rome  to  get  the  marriage 
annulled,  he  could  no  longer  continue  the  opposition 
which  he  had  started  at  first.  The  Court  of  Bavaria  was 
communicated  with,  and  the  late  Regent,  Prince  Luitpold 
— who  was  still  alive  at  the  time — gave  his  consent  to  a 
procedure  of  divorce  being  started  simultaneousl}^  at  the 
Vatican  and  before  the  civil  courts  of  Bavaria.  This 
ended  with  the  annulment  of  the  union,  and  the  young 
Archduchess  was  freed  from  the  fetters  that  had  bound 
her  to  a  man  who  had  never  deserved  her. 

180 


Days  of  Unhappiness 

But  this  did  not  mean  that  she  was  allowed  to  live  her 
own  life,  according  to  her  personal  wishes  or  desires. 
For  one  thing,  the  Archduchess  Frederick,  her  mother, 
was  not  at  all  pleased  to  have  back  under  her  roof  a 
daughter  of  whose  conduct  she  had  never  approved,  and 
who  had  disappointed  all  the  hopes  her  brilliant  marriage 
had  raised.  The  Imperial  lady  understood  very  well  that 
after  such  a  scandal  it  would  become  extremely  difficult 
to  find  another  husband  for  the  girl.  She  did  not  approve 
of  female  emancipation,  and  thought  that  the  young 
Princess  would  have  done  better  to  content  herself  with 
a  separation  which  would  not  have  entirely  torn  asunder 
the  links  that  had  existed  between  her  and  her  husband, 
and  would  have  allowed  her  to  retain  the  status  of  a 
member  of  the  Bavarian  Royal  Family.  It  is  true  this 
would  have  shattered  her  life  and  have  condemned  her 
to  a  lonely  and  cheerless  existence,  but  the  haughty 
descendant  of  the  Dukes  of  Croy  did  not  care  for  this 
small  matter,  nor  for  the  feelings  of  her  own  child.  She 
had  become  a  true  Habsburg  in  that  respect,  which  per- 
haps accounted  for  the  great  affection  with  which  she  was 
viewed  by  the  head  of  that  House,  the  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph. 

The  young  Archduchess  Isabella  soon  found  out  that 

her  life  at  home  was  anything  but  a  pleasant  one.     On 

the  other  hand,  she  did  not  care  to  live  always  with  her 

aunts  and  cousins,  where  she  had  the  feeling  that  she  was 

staying  on  sufferance.     She  was  in  a  false  position  and 

felt  it  acutely — neither  a   maiden,   nor   a   wife,   nor   a 

181 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

widow ;  a  sort  of  lost  being  whom  no  one  w^anted,  and 

for  whom  no  one  really  cared ;  alone  with  her  wasted 

affections  and  her  half-broken  heart,  and  deprived  even 

of  the  possibility   of  seeking  outside  amusements  that 

might  have  made  her  forget,  if  only  for  a  short  time,  the 

sad  experience  which  had  blighted  her  young  life. 

At  last,  tired  out  by  the  inaction  and  futility  of  her 

existence,  she  took  a  great  resolution,  and  declared  to  her 

parents  that  she  wanted  to  enter  a  sisterhood  of  nurses 

w^here  she  could  use  her  faculties  in  tending  the  sick 

and  afflicted.    No  one  tried  to  prevent  her.    Her  father, 

who  felt  in  a  certain  sense  guilty  before  her,  did  not 

oppose  her  determination,  hoping  that  she  would  find 

some  comfort  in  a  new  life  where  nothing  could  remind 

her  of  the  past ;  and  her  mother  was  secretly  delighted 

at  being  relieved  of  the  responsibility  of  looking  after  a 

child  with  whom  she  no  longer  felt  in  sympathy,  and 

whose  presence  at  her  side  w^as  nothing  but  a  burden 

to   her.     The    Archduchess    parted   from    her    relatives 

once  again,   but  more   happily  than  she  had  done  on 

that  bleak  February  day  when  her  husband  had  carried 

her  away  to  his  own  home  after  the  ceremony  of  their 

w^edding  at  Schonbrunn.    She  entered  almost  joyfully  the 

hospital  of  the  Rudolph  community  in  Vienna,  where 

she  w^ent  through  the  regular  course  of  studies  required 

from  every  nursing  sister  in  that  establishment.    She  was 

known  there,  at  her  own  request,  only  by  the  name  of 

Sister  Irmgard. 

For  something  like  a  year  she  worked  in  the  hospital, 

182 


A  Battlefield  Romance 

and  made  herself  generally  beloved  by  the  patients  as 
well  as  by  the  authorities  in  charge.  And  when  the  war 
broke  out  she  was  one  of  the  first  who  volunteered  to  go 
to  the  front  to  attend  the  victims. 

It  was  during  this  trying  time  that  the  beautiful 
character  of  the  young  Archduchess  came  out  in  its  full 
splendour.  She  followed  the  armies  commanded  by  her 
father,  the  Archduke  Frederick,  and  day  and  night 
worked,  with  a  detachment  of  the  Austrian  Red  Cross 
in  a  motor  field  ambulance,  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and 
wounded,  denying  herself  any  of  the  comforts  to  which 
she  might  have  pretended,  and  never  resting  in  her 
arduous  duties.  The  whole  army  knew  her  and  loved 
her,  and  wondered  at  the  courage  which  led  her  to  expose 
herself  to  all  kinds  of  dangers,  going  so  far  as  to  fetch 
wounded  men  from  the  very  line  of  the  enemy's  fire. 
She  did  not  spare  herself ;  she  was  always  thinking 
about  others,  and  many  soldiers  spoke  and  thought  about 
her  as  a  saint  sent  down  from  heaven  to  attend  to  their 
wants ;  to  help  them  in  their  sufferings  or  to  be  with 
them  in  the  solemn  hour  of  their  passage  into  another 
life. 

One  evening,  after  an  unusually  hard-working  day, 
the  Archduchess,  on  entering  a  field  hospital  to  attend 
to  some  of  her  patients,  was  surprised  to  find  a  new  face 
among  the  doctors  assembled  there.  Upon  inquiring 
who  it  was,  she  was  told  that  it  was  the  famous  Vienna 
surgeon,  Professor  Paul  Albrecht,  one  of  the  greatest 
celebrities  in  Germany.     She  went  up  to  him  and  asked 

183 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

him  to  examine  more  particularly  a  few  of  her  patients 
in  whom  she  felt  especially  interested.  This  first  con- 
versation led  to  many  others,  and  at  last  the  grave  and 
studious  man,  whose  busy  life  had  not  given  him  many 
opportunities  to  talk  with  ladies  on  other  subjects  than 
their  personal  illnesses  and  physical  miseries,  became  more 
than  interested  in  the  pale,  slight  woman  who  was  always 
ready  to  come  forward  whenever  wanted,  who  never  for  a 
moment  forgot  the  work  of  mercy  in  which  she  was 
engaged,  and  who  submitted  so  joyfully  to  hardships 
and  privations  of  every  kind.  They  became  friends,  and 
often  of  an  evening,  when  they  both  could  enjoy  a  few 
moments'  rest,  they  sat  side  by  side  talking  about  all  the 
sad  spectacles  which  were  continually  meeting  their 
sight,  and  from  which  there  was  no  escape  wherever  they 
turned. 

The  seriousness,  intelligence  and  spirit  of  self-sacrifice 
of  the  5'Oung  Archduchess  deeply  impressed  the  clever 
doctor,  who  had  ne^'er  expected  to  find  such  earnestness 
in  a  woman  brought  up  as  she  had  been  amidst  all  the 
refinements  of  a  luxury  that  did  not  leave  her  a  single 
wish  unfulfilled.  He  was  virtually  a  Socialist  in  his 
opinions ;  he  believed  that  every  man  and  woman  in  the 
world  ought  first  to  think  of  their  duties  toward  their 
neighbours. 

Professor  Albrecht  had,   indeed,   nursed  against  the 

Habsburgs  that  kind  of  resentment  with  which  they  were 

viewed   all   over   Austria,    and   from   the   height   of  the 

science  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  lights  he  despised  the 

i84 


An  Archduchess  in  Love 

useless  kind  of  existence  which  they  led,  and  which  had 
never  been  known  to  be  of  real  help  to  any  of  the 
thousands  of  people  whose  burdens  they  might  so  easily 
have  lightened  had  they  only  thought  about  it.  The 
Archduchess  Isabella,  with  her  sweet  simplicity,  was  to 
him  a  revelation  of  womanly  grace  and  loveliness,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  their  friendship  ripened  into  some- 
thing warmer  that  was  not  yet  love,  but  very  near  to  it. 

The  Princess  also  was  struck  by  the  personality  of 
the  professor,  and  the  difference  in  their  ages  did  not 
frighten  her,  but  seemed,  on  the  contrary,  to  draw  her 
nearer  to  him.  They  toiled  together  at  the  common  task 
which  they  had  imdertaken  with  the  same  courage  and 
the  same  energy,  and  at  last  the  day  came  when  the 
daughter  of  the  Habsburgs  asked  herself  whether  she 
would  not  feel  happier  with  the  already  grey-haired  man, 
whose  moral  worth  she  had  learned  to  appreciate,  than 
amidst  all  the  splendours  of  her  parents'  palace  at 
Vienna,  or  the  magnificence  of  the  Hofburg.  She  soon 
decided  the  question  for  herself,  and  when  she  had 
made  up  her  mind  she  did  not  hesitate  in  allowing  the 
professor  to  guess  that  such  was  the  case,  and  that  should 
he  care  to  ask  her  for  the  gift  of  her  heart  she  would  not 
hesitate  to  grant  it  to  him. 

They  became  privately  engaged  soon  after,  but  the 
great  difficulty  was  how  to  acquaint  the  family  of  the 
Archduchess  of  her  decision  to  give  up  all  the  privileges 
and  advantages  of  her  exalted  rank,  as  w^ell  as  her  position 
as  a  member  of  the  Imperial  House,  and  marry  a  man 

185 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

who  had  nothing  beyond  his  spotless  reputation  and  the 
great  name  which  he  had  made  for  himself  in  the  world 
of  science  and  chirurgery  to  recommend  him ;  he  had 
none  of  those  qualifications  of  birth  which  were  considered 
indispensable  to  the  husbands  of  Royal  Princesses.  It 
was  true  that  one  of  the  cousins  of  the  Archduchess,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  the  Archduke  Charles  Stephen,  had 
wedded  a  simple  naval  officer  called  Herr  von  Kloss,  but 
he  belonged  at  least  to  the  Austrian  nobility,  and  could 
boast  of  a  "  von  "  to  his  name. 

The  case  was  absolutely  different  here,  because  Pro- 
fessor Albrecht  was  essentially  a  hoiirgeois  and  a  self- 
made  man.  This  alone  was  more  than  sufficient  to  set 
loose  all  the  indignation  and  fury  of  the  Imperial  Family. 
The  Archduchess  Isabella,  in  particular,  was  much 
enraged,  and  even  talked  of  the  necessity  of  locking  up 
in  a  madhouse  a  daughter  so  far  capable  of  forgetting 
herself.  The  only  person  who  showed  some  kindness  to 
the  unfortunate  girl  was  her  father,  the  Archduke 
Frederick,  who  during  all  the  long  months  when  he  had 
had  the  opportunity  to  watch  his  daughter  fulfilling  the 
mission  of  mercy  which  she  had  undertaken,  and  doing  it 
without  flinching  and  with  a  courage  such  as  is  but 
seldom  seen  in  a  woman,  had  grown  to  love  as  well  as  to 
respect  her,  and  to  regret  the  wreck  of  her  life  that  had 
been  the  consequence  of  parental  ambition  and  careless- 
ness. He  was  not  an  intelligent  man,  and  he  had  inherited 
all  the  selfishness  of  the  Ilabsburgs,  but  something  in  his 
heart  had  been  touched  by  the  child's  noble  character, 

186 


Francis  Joseph  withholds  Consent 

and  he  decided  to  try  to  allow  her  to  seek  her  happiness 
where  she  thought  that  she  could  find  it,  and  he  begged 
the  Emperor  to  grant  his  consent  to  the  Archduchess's 
engagement. 

But  he  had  not  reckoned  with  Francis  Joseph's 
cruelty  and  mercilessness.  The  Sovereign  merely  treated 
his  nephew  as  a  madman,  and  declared  that  if  the  Arch- 
duchess Isabella  did  not  at  once  give  up  the  idea  of  thus 
disgracing  herself,  he  would  do  the  same  thing  with  her 
as  he  had  done  with  the  unfortunate  Crown  Princess  of 
Saxony  :  forbid  her  to  use  her  title  or  her  coat  of  arms, 
and  expel  her  from  the  bosom  of  her  family.  No  appeal 
would  touch  him,  and  the  fact  that  his  niece's  life  was 
being  thus  sacrificed  for  the  second  time  to  foolish  ideas 
of  pride  and  of  haughtiness  did  not  seem  to  trouble  him 
in  the  very  least.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  he  could 
be  persuaded  to  allow  the  Archduchess  to  go  on  with 
her  work  in  the  field  hospital ;  he  wanted  to  have  her 
locked  up  in  one  of  her  father's  castles  until,  as  he 
expressed  it,  she  "  comes  to  her  senses  again." 

The  Archduke  Frederick  had  to  return  to  his  daughter 
with  the  bad  news  that  his  efforts  had  proved  useless.  She 
said  nothing — perhaps  because  she  felt  that,  in  the 
circumstances  in  which  she  found  herself  placed,  it  would 
be  almost  akin  to  desertion  to  leave  the  post  of  danger 
at  which  she  stood.  Both  she  and  the  professor  resigned 
themselves  to  the  inevitable,  but  one  may  hope  that  after 
the  war  is  over  the  young  Princess  will  succeed  in  obtain- 
ing permission  to  marry. 

187 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE     AUSTRIAN     CLERGY 

A  GREAT  deal  has  been  written  concerning  the 
influence  of  the  clergy  in  Austria.  Some  people 
affirm  that  no  important  political  decision  is  taken  by 
the  Government  without  being  previously  referred  to 
Rome  and  its  functionaries.  I  think  that  this  assertion 
is  probably  exaggerated,  but  that  the  Vatican  is  still  a 
great  power  at  the  Hofburg  is  an  undeniable  fact,  though 
it  may  not  be  quite  so  strong  at  the  Ball  Platz. 

The  bigotry  of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  makes 
him  turn  toward  his  Mother  Church  in  all  those  difficul- 
ties with  which  he  finds  himself  confronted  but  fails 
to  understand  or  to  appreciate  at  their  proper  worth. 
Private  letters  occasionally  pass  between  him  and  the 
Pope,  and  on  one  memorable  occasion — that  of  the  Con- 
clave which  followed  upon  the  death  of  Leo  XIII. — the 
Austrian  Government,  acting  on  instructions  which  it 
had  received  from  a  source  the  origin  of  which  it  is  easy 
to  guess,  interfered  in  the  deliberations  of  that  assembly. 
It  made  use  of  the  old  right  of  veto  which  Austria  had 
possessed  from  time  immemorial,  but  which  had  fallen 
into  abeyance  for  more  than  two   hundred  years,   and 

objected    to    the    election    to    the    pontifical    throne    of 

188 


Austria  and  Cardinal  Rampolla 

Cardinal  Rampolla,  who  was  suspected  oi'  Italian  Irreden- 
tist as  well  as  of  strong  French  sympathies. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  it  w^as  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  who  took  the  initiative  in  that  grave  step. 
The  Government  had  not  the  courage  to  do  so,  as  it 
seemed  to  savour  too  much  of  the  mediaeval  ages,  and 
also  tended  to  create  a  precedent  of  unusual  gravity  that 
might  have  most  serious  consequences  in  the  matter  of 
the  relations  of  the  Austrian  State  with  the  Roman 
Curia.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  only  result  which  it  had, 
apart  from  the  failure  of  Rampolla 's  candidature,  was  the 
abrogation  by  the  Vatican  of  the  right  of  veto  on  the  part 
of  foreign  Powers  belonging  to  the  Catholic  commimity. 

But  to  return  to  the  conduct  of  the  Emperor  in  that 
memorable  incident.  When  he  had  made  up  his  mind — 
or,  as  seems  more  likely,  when  others  had  made  it  up  for 
him — that  the  elevation  to  the  tiara  of  the  former  Secre- 
tary of  State  of  Leo  XIII.  would  prove  injurious  to 
Austrian  interests  (though  why  he  would  have  found  it 
rather  difficult  to  explain),  he  instantly  acted  on  this 
conviction  with  the  energy  generally  displayed  by  w^ak 
characters  if  they  once  muster  enough  resolution  to  assert 
themselves.  He  invited  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of 
Vienna  to  the  Hofburg  in  order  to  entrust  him  with  the 
painful  mission  of  interfering,  in  the  Emperor's  name, 
wdth  the  deliberations  of  the  Conclave  about  to  open. 

The  Prelate,  however,  absolutely  refused  to  lend  him- 
self to  such  an  intrigue,  and  declared  that  his  personal 

relations  with  Cardinal  Rampolla  rendered  it  quite  impos- 

189 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

sible  for  him  to  accept  the  mission.  Upon  this,  Francis 
Joseph  summoned  the  Archbishop  of  Cracow,  Cardinal 
Puzyna,  who  agreed  with  a  certain  pleasure  to  the 
painful  and  delicate  task  imposed  upon  him,  because 
Rampolla  had  energetically  opposed  the  pro-Austrian 
policy  that  a  certain  portion  of  the  Galician  clergy,  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Cracow  at  its  head,  had  long  been 
systematically  pursuing. 

The  result  of  this  intervention  of  Francis  Joseph  is 
known  to  the  world.  Its  consequences  will  only  be 
revealed  later  on,  when  the  history  of  the  last  twenty-five 
years  comes  to  be  written  in  more  detail  than  it  is  possible 
to  do  at  present.  We  stand,  to-day,  too  near  to  certain 
facts  to  be  able  to  discuss  them  with  impartiality.  It  is 
certainly  not  my  intention  to  do  so  in  this  book,  and  I 
only  mentioned  the  incident  connected  with  the  election  of 
the  late  Pope  Pius  X. — which  would  never  have  taken 
place  had  it  not  been  for  the  consternation  into  which  the 
Austrian  veto  threw  the  members  of  the  Sacred  College 
— to  confirm  the  general  impression  which  prevails  among 
enlightened  minds  as  to  the  close  attention  with  which 
everything  that  takes  place  at  the  Vatican  is  followed  in 
Vienna,  and  of  the  great  importance  that  is  attached  at 
the  Ball  Platz  to  the  part  that  the  clergy  can  play,  and 
indeed  does  play,  in  the  politics  of  Austria. 

The  Emperor  himself  is  a  most  devout  man.  I  fancy 
that  he  imagines  he  is  pious,  too ;  but  tliat  is  another 
matter.  Piety  requires  something  more  than  the  strict 
observance    of    the    routine    of    religion.     He    likes    to 

190 


Baron  Wuthenau's  Affairs 

speak  of  the  trials  and  sorrows  Providence  has  inflicted 
upon  him,  and  of  which,  by  the  way,  he  feels  inordi- 
nately proud.  He  is  as  vain  of  the  misfortunes  which 
have  assailed  him  as  a  pretty  woman  would  be  of  her 
lovely  features. 

The  Emperor  goes  dailj^  to  church,  and  his  devotion 
is  imitated  by  the  whole  of  the  Austrian  aristocracy  with 
but  few  exceptions.  In  the  generality  of  cases  religion 
is  either  an  affectation  or  a  question  of  good  breeding. 
At  the  same  time  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  one 
meets,  especially  among  the  women,  very  fine  types  of 
religious  convictions  and  of  sincere  as  well  as  humble 
faith. 

Certain  religious  usages  have  been  laid  down,  no  one 

knows  by  whom,  but  they  are  as  immutable  as  the  laws 

of  olden  times,  which  did  not  admit  of  any  compromise. 

For  instance,  a  mixed  marriage  is  scarcely  tolerated,  and 

then  only  on  the  condition  that  its  issue  must  be  baptised 

into  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  without  any  regard  to 

sex.    When  the  sister  of  the  late  Duchess  of  Hohenberg, 

the  Covmtess  Chotek — who  had  not  sixpence  in  the  world 

to   bless   herself   with — was    asked    in    marriage   by    the 

very  rich  Baron  Wuthenau,  a  terrible  storm  shook  the 

placidity  of  all  her  relatives,  as  the  fiance  happened  to  be 

a  Protestant ;   and  it  is  related  that  her  confessor  was 

even  asked  to  remonstrate  with  her  on  the  very  dangerous 

step   she  contemplated  taking  before,   at  last,   she  was 

allowed  to  accept  him. 

The  clergy,  though  apparently  not  mixing  itself  in 

191 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

the  family  life  of  the  faithful,  contrives  nevertheless  to 
influence  it  a  good  deal.  Domestic  chaplains,  especially 
in  country  houses,  are  often  to  be  met,  and  they  are 
treated  with  the  utmost  consideration.  Meat  never 
appears  at  table  on  Fridays,  and  it  would  be  considered 
a  most  heinous  crime  to  miss  attending  Mass  on  Sundays. 
Indeed,  in  some  households  it  is  expected  that  all  its 
members  should  attend  Mass  every  morning. 

Religious  newspapers  are  most  popular,  while  the 
Vienna  Fremdenhlatt — which  is  the  only  really  serious 
and  worth-reading  daily  paper  in  Austria — is  considered 
as  a  most  dangerous  publication  by  the  very  pious 
dowagers  of  the  aristocracy,  and  only  smuggled  in  occa- 
sionally by  the  younger  members  of  the  family.  Conver- 
sations are  often  directed  toward  not  so  much  religious, 
as  superstitious  subjects,  and  the  Pope  is  looked  upon 
in  the  light  of  a  divinity,  something  akin  to  the  Mikado 
of  Japan  before  the  reforms  which  have  civilised  that 
country. 

An  amusing  instance  may  be  related  in  this  connec- 
tion. There  was  a  j^oung  girl  in  Viennese  society  who, 
though  renowned  for  her  extraordinary  beauty,  was  also 
known  for  her  absolute  lack  of  conversational  and  per- 
ceptive faculties.  One  day  a  young  man  of  a  rather 
frivolous  disposition  made  a  bet  with  some  of  his  friends 
that  he  would  induce  her  to  speak  continuously  the  first 
time  he  should  happen  to  meet  her.  The  bet  was  for  a 
considerable  sum,  and  was  taken  by  several  people.    They 

all  assembled  a  few  days  later  at  a  ball  which  was  being 

192 


A  Bet  and  Its  Sequel 

given,  and  followed  with  immense  interest  the  manoeuvres 
of  their  comrade.  What  was  their  surprise  to  see  that 
during   the    whole    of   a    quadrille    the   young    Princess 

X y  talked  with  the  greatest  liveliness  to  her  partner, 

and  indeed  became  quite  excited  during  her  conversation 
with  him,  which  continued  long  after  the  dance  had  come 
to  an  end.  When  at  last  he  left  her,  he  was  at  once 
surrounded  by  his  friends,  who  asked  him  to  explain  how 
he  had  contrived  to  animate  that  statue.  "  You  want  to 
know  what  I  have  done?"  was  the  reply.  "It  was  a 
simple  matter  after  all.  I  began  telHng  her  all  kinds  of 
horrible  stories  concerning  the  Pope.  She  will  never  look 
at  me  again,  but  in  the  meanwhile  she  talked  for  once, 
and  probably  more  than  she  had  ever  done  in  her  life 
before  or  ever  will  do  after."  One  may  imagine  the 
bursts  of  laughter  which  greeted  this  frank  avowal  on 
the  part  of  the  young  man. 

This  anecdote,  which  is  quite  true,  will  give  the  reader 
an  idea  of  the  kind  of  education  which  the  daughters  of 
Austria's  most  aristocratic  houses  receive.     Such  a  train- 
ing is  bound  to  exercise  its  influence  not  only  on  the 
daily  existence  of  that  class  of  people,  but  also  on  their 
pohtical  opinions,  which  in  a  good  many  cases  are  but 
reflections   of  those   professed   by   the   priests  in   whose 
keeping   is   their   conscience.     I   hope   this   will   not  be 
looked  upon  in  the  light  of  any  disrespect  on  my  part 
for  the  Catholic  clergy  in  general,  where  I  am  the  first 
one  to  say  that  one  finds  admirable  examples  of  all  the 
virtues ;  but  as  a  general  rule  priests,  because  they  have 
V  193 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

entered  into  Holy  Orders,  have  not  given  up  on  that 
account  any  of  their  national  qualities  or  defects. 

The  Austrian  priest,  like  most  of  his  compatriots,  is 
a  being  with  very  little  knowledge  beyond  that  which  is 
indispensable  in  his  profession,  very  narrow  ideas,  and  a 
limited  amount  of  that  higher  education  which  is  so  im- 
portant to  acquire  for  all  those  who  aspire  to  leave  their 
mark  in  the  world.  I  am,  of  course,  speaking  of  the 
parish  clergy,  which  has  sole  charge  of  the  morals  and 
training  of  the  masses.  Above  it  are  to  be  met  the 
Jesuits  and  other  congregations,  which  abound  all  over 
the  Austrian  Empire.  These  control  the  higher  classes, 
and  have  a  real  importance  in  Court  circles.  Between 
these  two  classes  of  clergy,  by  the  way,  exists  a  decided 
animosity,  which  nevertheless  does  not  outstep  the  limits 
of  politeness. 

The  Austrian  is  far  too  mild  in  character  ever  to 
become  violent,  even  when  his  feelings  are  aroused. 
Consequently,  the  intervention  of  the  priest  in  his  private 
life,  even  when  it  is  not  welcomed,  is  generally  accepted, 
and  the  latter  knows  very  well  how  to  make  use  of  this 
circumstance  to  ingratiate  himself. 

It  is  a  curious  thing,  but  with  the  exception  of  the 

Polish  Church,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Austrian  clergy 

is  German  in  sympathies.    The  Polish  clergy  are  so  very 

anti-Russian  that  the  feeling  makes  Austrians  of  them, 

in  the  sense  that  they  always  keep  preaching  to  their 

disciples  that  the  greatest  misfortune  which  could  befall 

them  would  be  if  Russia  installed  itself  in  Galicia.     The 

194 


The  Polish  Priesthood 

fear  of  such  a  possibility  makes  the  Poles  support  with 
all  their  might  the  Austrian  Government,  even  when  the 
latter  does  things  which  do  not  appeal  to  their  opinions 
or  feelings. 

In  Poland  the  influence  of  the  priest  is  a  formidable 
one,  if  only  on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  peasants  and 
artisans  are  entirely  dependent  on  him  for  their  political 
convictions,  and  always  ready  to  transfer  their  allegiance 
to  those  whom  he  recommends  them  to  obey.  But 
outside  Poland  and  Bohemia,  where  the  Czech  and  the 
German  elements  are  always  at  war  with  each  other,  the 
sympathies  of  the  clergy  are  for  Germany,  in  which  it 
sees  the  best  friend  and  ally  that  Austria  ever  had  in  the 
past  or  will  have  in  the  future ;  this  notwithstanding  the 
shadows  of  Sadowa  and  of  so  many  other  battles,  in  which 
the  Prussian  shot  down  his  Austrian  adversary. 

Whether  this  is  the  result  of  conviction  or  that  of 
clever  intrigue  it  is  difficult  to  say.  It  is  sufficient  that 
the  fact  exists,  and  as  such  it  deserves  particular  atten- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  spectator  desirous  of  ascertaining 
the  details  of  the  working  of  the  machine  which  sets  into 
motion  the  wheels  of  the  Austrian  Monarchy. 

In  the  present  war  the  part  played  by  the  clergy  has 

been  quite  stupendous.    For  one  thing,  it  was  its  task  to 

explain  to  the  people  the  necessity  of  taking  up  cheerfully 

its  portion  of  the  general  burden,  and  of  standing  by 

the  Government  without  flinching  throughout  the  crisis. 

The   murder   of  the   Archduke   Francis   Ferdinand   was 

represented  as  having  been  the  crime  of  the  anti-Catholic 

195 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

party  in  Servia,  guided  by  Russia,  who  was  aspiring  to 
establish  itself  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula.  This  was  to  the 
detriment  of  Austria  and  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
which  had  begun  to  take  a  strong  hold  in  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  thanks  to  the  zeal  of  the  Austrian  officials, 
who,  following  the  inspiration  of  certain  members  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  and  other  religious  orders,  were  doing 
their  best  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Greek 
schismatics,  so  as  to  oblige  them  either  to  emigrate  or 
else  to  enter  the  Roman  communion.  The  anti-Catholics 
were  also  strong  in  Bulgaria,  where  Ferdinand  of  Coburg 
was  intriguing  for  all  he  was  worth  in  order  to  estab- 
lish an  independent  Bulgarian  Church  united  with  Rome, 
who  would  joyfully  consent  to  accept  it  among  its  flocks 
in  the  same  manner  that  it  had  accepted  the  Armenians 
and  the  Greek  followers  of  the  Latin  form  of  their  rites. 
This  scheme,  which  had  been  begotten  out  of  the  active 
brain  of  the  Prince's  mother,  the  famous  Princess 
Clementine  of  Coburg,  very  nearly  succeeded,  and  might 
have  done  so  altogether  had  not  the  war  stopped  its 
progress. 

To  return  to  the  conduct  of  the  Catholic  clergy  when 
the  war  broke  out,  it  must  be  noticed  that  w^hilst  the 
Government  did  not  use  pressure  in  order  to  induce  the 
clergy  to  support  the  Throne,  by  the  influence  which  it 
wielded  over  the  masses,  the  clergy,  on  the  contrary,  of 
its  own  accord,  used  all  its  power  to  direct  the  nation  to 
follow  the  lead  of  the  Government.  During  the  few 
anxious   days   that   followed    upon   the   handing   of   the 

196 


The  Call  to  Arms 

famous  ultimatum  of  Count  Berchtold  to  the  Servian 
Government,  when  serious  people  vi^ere  hoping  against 
hope  that  the  terrible  catastrophe  of  a  European  war 
might  still  be  avoided  by  some  kind  of  miracle,  the  parish 
priests  all  over  the  country  were  assiduously  explaining 
to  their  parishioners  that  the  time  had  come  when  the 
intrigues  of  the  enemies  of  the  true  faith  were  about  to 
be  punished.  God  Himself,  they  said,  required  them  to 
come  forward  to  defend  the  threatened  cause  of  justice 
and  of  civihsation.  What  could  poor,  ignorant  people, 
who  had  heard  nothing  else  beyond  this  call  to  arms 
coming  from  the  mouth  of  the  most  respected  authority 
they  knew,  do  but  believe  all  this  accumulation  of  un- 
truth and  false  representations?  Before  even  war  had 
been  declared  the  whole  population  of  Austria  knew 
that  it  was  about  to  begin,  and  rejoiced  in  the  fact — 
after  the  fashion  of  the  ancient  martyrs  who  rejoiced  at 
being  put  to  death  for  their  faith. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  nothing  could  have 
been  cleverer  than  this  demoralisation  of  a  whole  nation. 
Without  it,  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible  to 
persuade  the  Austrian  soldiers  to  fight  with  anything 
like  enthusiasm  and  courage.  They  are  not  brave,  and 
initiative  on  the  battlefield  is  unknown  to  them.  They 
would  much  prefer  staying  at  home  than  winning  laurels 
of  which  they  fail  to  see  the  use.  Their  mild  disposition 
and  kind  nature  abhors  blood,  and  the  sight  of  any  suffer- 
ing unmans  them.    Though  they  can  be  cruel  on  occasion, 

it  is  always  in  a  spasmodic  manner,  which  does  not  bear 

197 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

the  slightest  resemblance  to  the  cold  and  studied  ferocity 
of  their  allies  the  Germans.  Left  alone,  those  good 
Austrians  would  probably  never  have  thought  about 
avenging  the  pistol-shot  which  killed  the  Archduke  and 
his  wife. 

It  required  a  strong  effort  on  the  part  of  those  who 
wanted  them  to  come  forward  in  the  bellicose  attitude 
which  was  not  theirs  by  nature,  and  this  achievement  it 
is  to  be  doubted  whether  anyone  outside  of  the  clergy 
could  have  been  successful  in  performing.  The  Silesian 
and  Tyrolean  peasants,  too  ignorant  to  seek  anything 
outside  the  official  reasons  given  for  the  great  infamy 
their  simple  minds  were  far  too  untrained  to  suspect, 
marched  forth,  singing  their  national  hymns,  to  be 
slaughtered  in  masses  in  the  Carpathian  passes  and  the 
Galician  and  Polish  plains.  In  the  rapidity  with  w^hich  the 
whole  population  of  the  Austrian  Monarchy  responded 
to  the  appeal  of  its  Government,  the  work  of  the  clergy 
could  be  traced  at  every  step. 

So   much   for  the   masses.     But   among   the   upper 

classes  also  an  active  propaganda  for  the  war  was  made 

by  ecclesiastics,  whether  belonging  to  the  secular  or  to 

the  regular  branch  of  the  clergy.     The  noble  families 

who  clustered  round  the  Throne,  and  who  up  to  then 

had  but  rarely  been  called  upon  to  make  any  real  sacrifices 

for  a  Monarchy  of  which  they  proclaimed  themselves  the 

warmest  supporters,  were  catechised  and  encouraged  and 

persuaded  that  at  last  the  time  had  come  for  them  to 

assert  themselves  and  to  come  forward.     By  such  con- 

198 


Clerical  Aspirations 

duct,  they  were  told,  they  would  be  able,  after  the  war 
had  been  brought  to  a  successful  issue,  to  persuade, 
and  if  necessary  to  claim  from  the  Sovereign  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  their  past  services,  and  also  prominent  places 
in  the  administration  of  the  State,  which  lately  had  not 
been  awarded  to  them  quite  so  generously  as  had  been 
the  case  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Francis  Joseph. 
To  tell  the  truth,  what  the  clergy  aimed  at  was  the 
establishment  of  its  own  influence  in  a  far  more  solid  way 
than  before.  It  wanted,  and  indeed  had  all  along  wanted, 
to  return  to  feudal  customs,  which  recognised  but  two 
powers  in  the  land  :  that  of  the  Church  and  of  the  aris- 
tocracy. It  refused  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  existence 
to  the  middle  classes,  and  still  less  that  of  having  any  part 
in  the  conduct  of  State  affairs.  It  wished  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  supremacy  of  its  Order,  working  hand  in 
hand  with  the  nobility  it  had  always  flattered,  and  had 
carefully  trained  into  insignificance.  The  clergy  had 
never  renounced  the  hope  of  a  revival  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Popes.  It  firmly  believed  that  in  the 
event  of  a  successful  war,  of  which  it  failed  to  appreciate 
the  inevitable  consequences,  it  would  become  possible 
once  more  for  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  to  come  for- 
ward as  the  defender  of  the  faith.  His  reward  for  his 
support  of  German  ambitions  would  be  the  right  to  raise 
the  Church  of  Rome  once  more  to  the  pinnacle  at  which 
it  stood  before  the  waves  of  progress  had  swept  awaj^  its 
dominion. 

There  was  also  another  point  that  appealed  to  the 

199 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

imagination  of  the  Austrian  ecclesiastical  authorities. 
This  had  to  do  with  Hungary,  which  was  far  from  being 
as  devout  and  as  fanatical  as  her  sister  Austria.  The 
clergy  had  never  been  able  to  establish  a  firm  hold  in  the 
minds  of  the  proud  Magyars.  On  the  contrar\%  general 
indifference  in  matters  of  religion  prevailed  equally 
among  the  fashionable  world  of  Budapest  and  among  the 
peasantry  and  the  lower  classes  of  the  provinces.  Try  as 
they  could,  the  clergy  found  it  impossible  to  interfere 
with  the  conduct  of  affairs  in  Hungary,  and  they  had 
had  to  resign  themselves  to  wait  for  the  unexpected. 

The  war  gave  them  their  golden  opportunity.  The 
supreme  ability  of  the  Emperor  William  II.  was  shown 
in  his  persuasion  of  the  Catholic  clergy  that  its  cherished 
ambitions  were  at  last  about  to  be  fulfilled.  For  once 
the  Church  failed  to  grasp  the  true  significance  of  the 
bait  which  was  proffered,  and  rushed  on  to  its  fate,  just 
as  blindly  as  the  Sovereign,  just  as  joyfully  as  the  diplo- 
mats who  ought  to  have  foreseen,  and  just  as  carelessly 
as  the  Ministers  who  had  failed  to  avert  the  calamity 
which  will  demolish  the  throne  of  the  Habsburgs. 


200 


CHAPTER   XIII 

LEADERS    OF   MILITARISM   AND   DIPLOMACY 

EVER  since  the  war  broke  out  Austria  has  been 
boasting  about  her  army,  although  she  herself  did 
not  feel  quite  sure  of  the  fact  some  two  years  ago.  The 
world  at  large  had  long  frankly  doubted  the  existence  of 
any  troops  worthy  of  the  name,  an  attitude  not  without 
some  reason,  if  one  remembers  that  for  something  like 
three-quarters  of  a  century  the  Austrian  troops  have  been 
beaten  invariably  and  ignominiously  wherever  they  hap- 
pened to  be  engaged  in  strife,  no  matter  with  whom. 
Indeed,  when  Prince  Bismarck  realised  his  long-cherished 
dream  of  drawing  together  the  two  Central  European 
Monarchies,  who  had  been  antagonists  for  so  long,  the 
public  had  wondered  what  possible  advantage  he  could 
find  in  such  an  ally,  who  would  never  be  able  to  be  of 
any  considerable  military  use.  But  it  was  not  military 
value  that  Bismarck  wanted ;  he  could  do  all  that  was 
requisite  on  that  score,  and  events  have  proved  that 
Austria  could  become  very  useful  to  her  friend  by  assum- 
ing the  responsibilit^y  of  any  action  at  a  given  moment. 
Without  her  it  would  not  have  been  easy  for  Germany 
to  find  a  pretext  for  declaring  war  upon  the  world,  and 
in  deciding  upon  Austria  as  a  pawn.   Prince  Bismarck 

201 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

read  the  future  with  unerring  accuracy,  owing  to  his 
experience  of  the  past. 

The  first  German  Chancellor  had  never  been  a  partisan 
of  a  war  with  Russia,  and  yet  he  must  have  guessed  that 
a  conflict  was  but  a  question  of  time,  and  that  Prussia 
would  never  rest  before  she  had  reduced  that  dangerous 
rival  to  the  condition  of  France  after  the  unfortunate 
campaign  of  1870.  Otherwise,  it  is  hardly  likely  he 
would  have  given  himself  such  trouble  to  secure  the  co- 
operation of  a  nation  whose  safety  lay  in  the  fact  that 
it  would  have  been  too  much  trouble  for  her  neighbours 
to  destroy  her.  Germany  wanted  a  screen  to  cover 
many  of  her  designs  and  dissimulate  her  many  personal 
ambitions.  Austria  offered  her  an  excellent  one.  To 
this  end,  and  this  end  only,  was  the  Triple  Alliance  con- 
cluded and  renewed. 

The  wonderful  diplomats  who  ruled  in  succession  at 
the  Ball  Platz  did  not  discover  the  fact,  however,  and 
Austrian  vanity  bhnding  them,  they  fully  believed  that 
their  friendship  was  sought  on  account  of  its  high  value. 
The  only  one  who  guessed  what  lurked  behind  the  sudden 
affection  of  Bismarck  was  Count  Andrassy  ;  but  the  latter 
did  not  in  the  least  care  what  happened  to  Austria  nor 
what  her  end  would  be — he  worked  for  the  good  of 
Hungary  and  its  exclusive  interests. 

Andrassy's  successors,  however,  took  themselves  far 

more  au  serieux  than  he  had  ever  done.     One  of  them, 

indeed.   Count  Aerenthal,   really  believed  that  Austria 

could  secure  for  itself  an  independent  position  in  the 

202 


German  Overshadowings 

European  Concert,  equal  to  England,  France  or  Russia. 
This  clever,  dashing,  miniature  statesman  had  ambitious 
dreams,  but  by  a  curious  anomaly,  whilst  aspiring  to 
shake  off  the  state  of  dependence  in  which  Germany  had 
kept  her  Austrian  neighbour  and  friend,  he  yet,  un- 
known to  his  own  self,  played  the  very  game  which  Berlin 
wished,  and  by  his  bold  annexation  of  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina set  fire  to  that  spark  which  was  to  develop  itself 
into  the  hugest  conflagration  which  history  has  ever  seen. 

In  doing  so,  however.  Count  Aerenthal  did  not  in  the 
least  follow  the  direction  of  the  German  Foreign  Office. 
This  institution,  so  remarkable  by  its  dearth  of  really 
clever  men,  was  absolutely  incapable  of  any  of  those 
Machiavellian  combinations  for  which  it  had  been  famous 
in  the  days  of  Prince  Bismarck  and  of  his  favourite,  Herr 
von  Holstein.  But  outside  the  Foreign  Office  and  the 
officials  that  thronged  in  the  various  departments  of  the 
Wilhelmstrasse  there  was  a  far  more  formidable  power 
in  Germany — the  General  Staff.  By  its  close  relations 
with  the  Staff  in  Vienna,  its  members  influenced  Austrian 
politics  in  a  subtle  manner,  which,  though  it  did  not 
allow  itself  to  be  suspected,  had  more  to  do  than  most 
are  aware  with  the  policy  to  which  Count  Aerenthal, 
supported  by  his  Sovereign,  had  clung  during  his  tenure 
of  the  Foreign  Office. 

The  present  war  has  certainly  been  brought  about  by 
the  Prussian  as  well  as  by  the  Austrian  military  parties, 
who  together  worked  out  a  plan  of  campaign  which  they 
fondly  hoped  would  quickly  put  an  end  to  their  various 

203 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

rivals  by  crushing  them.  The  strangest  thing  about  the 
whole  matter  was  that  each  party,  in  working  the  scheme 
out,  believed  that  it  would  turn  to  its  own  particular 
advantage  and  to  the  detriment  of  the  other  one.  It  was 
a  comedy  of  dupes. 

When  I  say  that  this  was  a  comedy  of  dupes,  I  must 
explain  what  I  mean.  To  begin  with  Germany ;  it  had 
brought  its  army  to  a  point  of  perfection  which,  as  it 
believed,  could  not  be  improved  upon.  Its  armaments 
were  something  quite  formidable,  its  technical  prepara- 
tions marvellous.  Besides  being  convinced  that  it  had 
prepared  itself  for  every  military  eventuality,  it  also 
knew  that  no  one  in  Europe  could  compete  with  it  for 
the  moment,  but  that  if  it  did  not  hasten  to  make  use  of 
its  enormous  advantages  and  superiority,  they  might  in 
time  not  prove  so  great,  for  the  simple  reason  that  all 
the  other  countries  who  distrusted  them  were  beginning 
to  awaken  to  the  knowledge  of  the  peril  which  threatened 
them,  and  were  also  organising  themselves  in  view  of  a 
possible  war. 

The  German  Staff  knew  very  well  that  the  Austrian 
army  had  got  absolutely  no  backbone,  and  that  it  would 
find  itself  in  the  greatest  difficulties  if  left  alone  to  its 
own  devices ;  the  question  of  having  to  go  to  its  help 
was  but  one  of  time.  When  it  arose,  German  officers 
would  have  to  take  command  of  Austrian  troops.  There- 
after the  fate  of  the  Habsburg  Monarchy  would  be  sealed, 
because  if  there  was  one  thing  about  which  the  German 

Staff  felt  absolutely  certain,  it  was  that  once  Austria's 

204 


William  II.  and  Hungary 

defence  was  handed  over  to  Prussia,  the  hitter  would 
never  give  up  the  hold  it  would  thus  secure  over  the 
military  resources  of  its  ally,  and  would  reduce  it  to  a 
condition  of  vassalage.  Germany  would  thus  have  at  its 
disposal  an  army  about  twice  as  numerous  as  before,  and 
under  the  iron  discipline  of  Prussia  it  would  soon  acquire 
those  martial  virtues  which  the  Austrian  command  had 
proved  unable  to  infuse  into  the  people  it  had  enrolled 
under  its  banner.  This  consequence  of  a  war  that  was 
most  undoubtedly  wished  for  in  certain  quarters  in  Berlin 
would  have  put  the  final  touch  to  the  work  begun  by 
Bismarck,  and  strengthen  the  great  Empire  he  had  built 
by  incorporating  in  it  all  the  German  elements  in 
Europe. 

This  viewpoint  explains  also  the  favours  lavished  by 
the  Emperor  William  II.  on  all  Hungarian  statesmen 
with  whom  he  came  into  contact.  Hungary  was  necessary 
to  him  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  deeply  laid  scheme, 
of  which  he  allowed  it  to  guess  sufficiently  to  come 
to  the  conclusion  that,  by  helping  it  to  mature,  it 
would  also  work  toward  the  recognition  of  its  own  entire 
independence. 

In  Austria,  and  especially  at  the  Ball  Platz,  quite 
different  hopes  were  indulged  in.  There,  Germany,  or 
rather  Berlin,  with  its  overbearing  ways,  had  never  been 
anything  else  but  an  evil  which  had  to  be  endured, 
because  one  hoped  that  out  of  it  considerable  good  would 
ensue.  Circumstances  had  obliged  Austrian  diplomacy 
to  go  on  its  way  hand  in  hand  with  the  Wilhelmstrasse, 

205 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

and  after  the  murder  of  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand, 
BerUn  had  been  far  more  anxious  to  see  Servia  punished 
for  a  crime  still  unproven  against  her  than  Count  Berch- 
told  and  all  his  staff.  It  is  an  open  secret  that  the  first 
idea  of  the  ultimatum  which  was  presented  at  Belgrade 
had  originated  from  the  German  Ambassador  in  Vienna, 
Herr  von  Tschirsky,  who,  if  one  is  to  believe  the  rumours 
that  circulated  among  those  in  close  touch  with  the  Hof- 
burg,  had  not  only  insisted  upon  the  thunderbolt,  but 
had  even  drawn  out  its  broad  lines.  Whether  he  had 
done  so  in  obedience  to  the  inspiration  of  his  immediate 
diplomatic  chiefs,  or  under  the  influence  of  the  General 
Staff,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  say.  Perhaps  it  was  due 
to  both. 

But  even  a  weak  and  not  far-seeing  man  such  as 
Coimt  Berchtold  would  not  have  given  in  so  easily  to 
the  pressure  put  upon  him  had  he  not  had  also  his  own 
personal  views  in  the  matter.  Austria,  vain  as  she  had 
alwaj^s  been,  had  an  aim  in  view,  and  that  was  to  shake 
off  the  yoke  which  Germany  had  laid  upon  her.  She 
fully  expected  that  her  armies  would  not  only  prove  of 
immense  help  to  Germany,  but  also  win  so  many  laurels, 
and  such  victories  over  the  Russian  troops — which  a  mis- 
taken and  badly  informed  intelligence  service  had  led 
her  to  believe  were  totally  unfit  to  hold  the  field  against 
her — that  she  would  be  able  to  shake  off  at  last  the  semi- 
allegiance  which  had  been  imposed  upon  her  by  her 
formidable  ally,  and  after  the  war  obtain  from  the  latter 
advantages  as  from  an  equal  in  strength. 

206 


A  Military  Enigma 

When  one  thinks  about  all  that  took  place  during  the 
memorable  months  that  have  since  gone  hy,  one  fails  to 
find  an  explanation  for  the  complete  eclipse  the  Austrian 
army  has  experienced.  It  is  impossible  to  call  the 
Austrian  a  coward,  and  any  amount  of  trouble  is  taken 
over  his  military  training.  The  men  are  not  devoid  of 
patriotism,  the  officers  are  eager  to  do  their  duty,  and 
most  painstaking.  Their  armaments  are  excellent,  and, 
indeed,  their  big  guns  are  quite  equal  to  the  famous 
German  "  Fat  Bertha,"  about  which  such  a  fuss  has  been 
made.  Their  cavalry  is  very  well  mounted,  and  their 
infantry  knows  how  to  handle  its  rifles  just  as  well  as  the 
Prussians.  And  yet  with  it  all  the  Austrians  have  never 
been  able  to  beat  their  enemies  single-handed,  and  their 
successes  have  only  been  obtained  when  they  have  found 
themselves  placed  under  the  command  of  German  officers. 

One  may  well  wonder  at  this  strange  fact,  and  the  only 
manner  in  which  it  can  be  explained  is  the  w\ant  of  natural 
intelligence  of  the  Austrian  nation,  combined  with  the 
inordinate  vanity  of  all  those  who  are  entrusted  with  the 
mission  of  leading  it  either  to  triumph  or  to  total  destruc- 
tion. Now,  after  eighteen  months  of  war,  it  is  still 
impossible  to  point  out  a  single  Austrian  commander 
having  made  for  himself  a  great  name.  Germany  can 
boast  of  Hindenburg,  Mackensen  and  Falkenhayn,  and 
others ;  Austria  can  only  point  to  Kusmanek,  the  com- 
mander of  Przemysl,  who  gave  up  that  fortress  to  the 
Russians. 

In  the  matter  of  the  calculations  indulged  in  at  Berlin 

207 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

concerning  the  probability  of  obtaining  the  sole  control  of 
the  Austrian  forces,  facts  have  fully  justified  them.  In 
spite  of  his  obstinacy,  Francis  Joseph  had  to  recognise 
that  it  was  impossible  for  his  troops  to  stand  the  pressure 
of  Russian  arms,  and  when  he  had  given  his  consent  to 
the  appointment  of  German  officers — a  consent  which,  it 
is  not  generally  known,  was  only  obtained  by  the  threat 
of  William  II.  to  conclude  a  separate  peace  with  the 
Tsar — Galicia  was  cleared  of  its  invaders,  and  Warsaw 
and  other  Russian  fortresses  taken  b}'  the  united  forces 
of  Prussia  and  of  its  allies.  Germany  took  all  the  credit, 
whatever  other  factor  caused  the  retirement.  In  the  joy 
of  these  unexpected  successes  the  Austrian  Government 
forgot  the  important  circumstance  that,  sooner  or  later, 
it  would  have  to  pay  heavily  for  them. 

Indeed,  when  one  comes  to  examine  the  whole  situa- 
tion as  it  presents  itself  to  the  eyes  of  any  impartial 
spectator,  one  wonders  whether  to  be  most  surprised  at 
the  lightheartedness  with  which  the  Austrian  diplomacy 
rushed  into  an  adventure  whence  it  had  not  the  slightest 
chance  of  coming  out  with  advantage,  or  the  want  of 
foresight  of  Austrian  military  chiefs,  who  believed  that 
they  were  sure  of  victory.  Another  queer  symptom  in 
this  whole  business  is  that  to  this  day  Austrian  statesmen 
have  not  grasped  the  humiliating  position  in  which  they 
stand  in  regard  to  Germany. 

Unfortunately  for  them,  the  day  of  reckoning,  per- 
haps  less   distant   than   they   imagine,    will   nevertheless 

dawn,  and  expiation  will  be  heavy  ;  the  sins  of  the  present 

208 


The  Fate  of  Austria 

will  meet  with  cruel  chastisement  in  the  future,  no  matter 
what  may  be  the  outcome  of  the  war.  Were  the  Germans 
to  become  victorious,  Prussia  would  thrust  Austria  aside 
with  the  utmost  unconcern,  after  taking  away  from  her 
all  that  was  worth  taking ;  Hungary  and  Bohemia  would 
claim  independence,  and  Austria  would  cease  to  exist, 
at  least  in  her  present  shape  and  form. 

Every  day,  however,  makes  it  more  certain  that  the 
Allies  will  win,  when  the  fate  of  Austria  will  indeed  be 
a  sad  one.  Russia  will,  of  course,  take  Galicia;  Italy, 
Trieste  and  the  Valley  of  the  Trentino,  together  with  the 
Tyrol ;  Servia  will  claim  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  with 
Croatia  thrown  into  the  bargain ;  whilst  two  new  king- 
doms, those  of  Bohemia  and  of  Hungary,  will  arise  out 
of  the  ashes  of  the  Austrian  Monarchy. 

What  then  will  remain  to  the  Habsburgs  of  all  their 
former  proud  possessions?  What  will  they  do,  who  will 
be  put  in  their  place,  and  what  will  be  the  fate  of  the 
few  German  provinces  that  their  realm  contains?  These 
will  form  some  of  the  most  serious  questions  of  the 
settlement. 

Among  the  Austrians  I  fail  to  find  a  man  capable  of 

an  attempt  to  save  his  Fatherland  from  the  annihilation 

which  awaits  it  in  the  near  future.     Not  one  among  all 

the  officials  of  the  Ball  Platz  has,  so  far,  given  proofs  of 

sufficient  talents  to  enable  him  to  cope  with  difficulties  of 

the  magnitude  of  those  that  await  his  country  on  the  day 

when  accounts  have  to  be  squared.     Count  Berchtold, 

who  at  least  has  some  diplomatic  experience  behind  him, 
o  209 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

is  neither  a  strong  character  nor  capable  of  assuming 
a  great  responsibihty.  His  right  hand  whilst  he  was  at 
the  head  of  Austrian  Foreign  Affairs,  Baron  de  Macchio, 
who  when  the  war  broke  out  was  sent  to  Rome  in  the 
hope  of  persuading  Italy  to  remain  neutral  in  the  conflict, 
is  hardly  a  tactful  man ;  Baron  Forgach,  another  high 
official  at  the  Ball  Platz,  though  an  exceedingly  clever 
Austrian,  could  not  carry  a  situation ;  Count  Szapary, 
who  when  the  war  broke  out  was  Ambassador  in  Peters- 
burg, lacks  wise  decision ;  the  former  Minister  in 
Belgrade,  Baron  Giesl  von  Gieslingen,  is  the  kind  of  man 
who  is  always  ready  to  obey  instructions  given  by  his 
superiors ;  Count  Szecsen  de  Temerin,  who  for  something 
like  four  years  represented  Austria-Hungary  in  Paris, 
is  a  man  of  the  world  and  nothing  else ;  whilst  Count 
Albert  Mensdorff,  whom  London  used  to  see  on  first 
nights  occupying  a  seat  in  the  omnibus  box  at  the  Opera, 
is  too  highly  connected  to  be  aught  else  but  a  favourite 
of  royalty. 

The  only  really  capable  individual  I  can  see  in  the 
Austrian  Foreign  Office  is  Count  Tarnowski,  a  Pole,  who 
has  had  some  decided  successes  at  Sofia,  and  to  whose 
activity  can  be  attributed  a  good  deal  of  King  Ferdinand's 
resolution  to  throw  in  his  fate  with  that  of  Germany  and 
of  Austria.  But  then  Count  Tarnowski  is  not  the  kind 
of  man  capable  of  holding  his  own  in  occasions  of  supreme 
importance.  He  is  one  of  those  people  who  can  do  ex- 
cellent work,  especially  when  it  comes  to  wander  in  the 

domain  of  underground  politics  that  has  no  secrets  for 

210 


A  Desperate  Situation 

him ;  but  it  remains  an  open  question  whether  he  would 
ever  be  strong  enough  to  fight  in  the  defence  of  a  des- 
perate cause.  And  that  the  situation  is  a  desperate  one 
for  the  Dual  Monarchy  I  do  not  think  that  anyone  who 
has  given  himself  the  trouble  to  study  the  European 
situation,  such  as  it  presents  itself  after  one  year  and  a 
half  of  war,  will  doubt  for  an  instant. 


2il 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  GREAT  DISILLUSION  OF  THE  FUTURE 

WHEN  all  the  circumstances  which  I  have  tried  to 
expose  in  the  previous  chapters  are  taken  into 
account,  the  conclusion  to  which  the  reader  is  bound  to 
come  is  that,  no  matter  how  the  results  of  the  Great  War 
are  discounted,  or  from  what  point  of  view  one  may  look 
at  them,  one  fact  stands  out  prominently,  and  that  is  the 
coming  annihilation  of  Austria. 

Austria  is  diseased  and  corrupt.  The  curious  thing 
in  this  general  disease  is  the  mentality  of  her  people.  It 
would  be  ridiculous  to  say  that  they  are  all  bad,  or  stupid, 
or  vicious.  At  the  same  time  it  would  be  hazardous 
to  affirm  that  they  are  not  all  foolish,  with  but  a  few 
exceptions. 

The  Austrian  has  never  been  able  to  give  himself  a 

proper  account  of  his  qualities  nor  of  his  defects,  either 

as  a  nation  or  as  an  individual.     He  has  been  born  and 

bred  in  an  artificial  moral  atmosphere  which  has  made  him 

take  the  night  for  the  day  and  mistake  black  for  white. 

He  does  it  in  all  innocence  and  ignorance,  but — and  there 

the  cloven  foot  shows — he  will  not  admit  that  he  may  be 

wrong,  that  the  lessons  which  he  has  learnt  have  not  been 

based  on  something  solid  and  true.     His  rehgion,  which 

212 


ARCHDUCHESS   ZITA 


E 


The  Austrian  Temperament 

has  never  been  properly  explained  to  him,  has  imbued  him 
with  a  feeling  which  is  not  faith — for  faith  supposes  always 
some  grandeur  of  the  soul — but  belief,  which  is  some- 
thing far  different,  for  one  may  easily  come  to  believe 
what  one  wishes,  an  impossible  thing  for  the  man  who 
has  realised  the  significance  of  the  solemn  Latin  word 
fide. 

The  average  Austrian  is  the  kind  of  person  who  will 
insist,  from  the  moral  point  of  view,  on  sending  his 
neighbour  to  church  on  Sundays,  but  who  will  never 
stretch  out  a  hand  of  indulgence  to  a  repentant  sinner ; 
who  will  fail  to  grasp  that  form  of  human  suffering  which 
proceeds  from  intellectual  or  religious  doubt,  and  which 
causes  such  a  harrowing  distress  to  an  intelligent  mind. 

Progress  is  a  word  devoid  of  meaning  for  Austrians, 
because  those  among  them  who  have  been  educated  think 
that  it  imphes  impiety  and  contempt  for  what  their 
fathers  held  sacred  and  what  they  reverence  themselves ; 
whilst  the  lower  classes  have  been  taught  by  the  clergy 
to  fear  it  as  an  emanation  of  the  Evil  One  himself.  It  is 
hardly  to  be  believed,  but  there  are  to  the  present  day 
villages  in  Austria  where  the  inhabitants  speak  about  the 
telephone  installed  in  the  post  office  as  an  invention  of 
the  devil,  and  would  die  rather  than  use  it.  I  happen  to 
know  personally  a  case  where  a  lady,  having  engaged  a 
new  housemaid,  was  implored  by  the  latter 's  parents  not 
to  insist  on  their  daughter  speaking  at  the  telephone,  as 
she  would  be  endangering  the  safety  of  her  soul  in  doing 
so.     Telegrams  are  still  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  and 

213  . 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

a  railway  train  with  apprehension.  The  lack  of  culture 
in  some  Tyrolean  and  Styrian  villages  is  indeed  astonish- 
ing, and  yet  the  people  who  inhabit  them  are  supposed 
to  have  political  opinions,  and  to  be  able  to  say  the  last 
word  as  to  what  advantages  Austria  must  obtain  from 
the  present  war. 

When  these  facts  have  been  appreciated  at  their 
proper  value,  it  is  no  longer  to  be  wondered  that  the 
Government  finds  in  the  population  an  instrument  as 
pliable  to  its  wishes  as  it  requires.  It  is  mistaken,  how- 
ever, in  fancying  that  the  country  has  opinions  of  its  own  ; 
it  fails  to  reahse  that  these  opinions  are  almost  always 
artificial,  imposed  by  the  clergy  or  the  officials. 

A  friend  of  mine,  who  happened  to  be  staying  at  a 
country  house  in  Transylvania  when  the  war  broke  out, 
related  to  me  that  the  peasantry,  when  told  that  it  had 
to  prepare  to  start  for  the  army,  was  quite  convinced 
that  it  was  going  to  fight  for  the  restoration  of  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  Pope.  Had  it  not  been  persuaded 
that  such  was  the  case,  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  it  would 
have  shown  so  much  enthusiasm  as  it  eventually  displayed. 

This  absence  of  comprehension  as  to  what  goes  on 

around  it  renders  the   Austrian  of  the  lower  classes  a 

passive,  aimless  being,  liable  to  break  down  under  the  first 

provocation.     It  explains  why,  early  in  the  war,  when 

the  Ru.ssians  entered  Galicia,  the  army,  or  at  least  what 

existed  of  the  army  there,  made  so  feeble  a  resistance. 

Incredible  as  it  may  appear,  it  is  a  fact  that  sometimes 

five  or  six  Russians  sent  on  patrol  service  returned  to  head- 

214 


Austrian  Military  OflScers 

quarters  with  fifty,  sixty,  and  sometimes  one  hundred 
prisoners,  who  had  followed  them  not  only  with  resigna- 
tion, but  even  with  pleasure.  The  Austrian  troops  at 
this  stage  of  the  campaign  had  but  one  idea  in  their  heads 
— to  see  it  come  to  an  end.  They  did  not  care  to  fight, 
and  preferred  being  taken  captive  to  the  risk  of  being 
killed. 

The  officers,  again,  gave  their  men  no  example  of 
stubbornness.  These  indolent  young  fellows,  for  whom 
the  military  service  had  never  appeared  in  any  other  light 
than  that  of  an  inevitable  necessity,  were  not  cowards  by 
any  means,  but  they  simply  did  not  see  the  use  of  being 
exterminated  for  the  sake  of  a  Government  which  they 
did  not  like,  even  when  they  thought  it  could  do  no 
wrong.  The  person  of  the  Sovereign,  too,  was  not 
popular  among  them,  for  the  reason  that  the  etiquette 
which  divided  Francis  Joseph  from  his  subjects  made  him 
so  much  above  common  humanity  that  the  latter  had 
ended  by  considering  him  so  far  from  it  that  it  was  not 
worth  while  thinking  about  him  at  all.  Francis  Joseph, 
in  the  eyes  of  those  whom  he  believes  to  be  his  faithful 
subjects,  appears  in  much  the  same  light  as  a  strong  room 
in  a  bank,  something  beyond  the  reach  even  of  burglars 
with  housebreaking  aptitudes  and  tendencies. 

So  much  for  the  population  in  general.      With  the 

aristocracy    the    same    feeling    is    differently    expressed. 

They  also  do  not  want  to  die ;  they  care  for  the  war  no 

more  than  the  people,  and  fail  to  understand  or  to  grasp 

the  colossal  issues  involved.     But  they  beHeve  with  their 

215 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

placid  temperaments  that  when  peace  will  be  restored 
their  former  existence  will  begin  again,  though  in  greater 
prosperity,  in  consequence  of  the  defeat  of  the  Russians. 
They  are  persuaded,  these  good  people,  that  they  will 
win  the  war;  but  why  or  b}^  what  means  they  do  not 
give  themselves  the  trouble  to  think. 

Austrian  vanity  is  so  great  that  it  refuses  to  admit  any 
of  its  own  mistakes  or  errors,  and  shifts  them  to  other 
people's  shoulders  with  an  ease  and  a  rapidity  quite 
worthy  of  admiration.  To  begin  with  the  Sovereign  and 
to  end  with  the  street-sweeper,  every  Austrian  citizen  is 
convinced,  even  when  he  sees  his  soldiers  beaten,  that 
the  God  who  blessed  the  fortunes  of  Israel  is  on  his  side, 
and  that  He  will  make  everj'-thing  right  in  the  long  run. 
Connnon  sense  was  never  the  strong  point  of  any  of  the 
people  ruled  by  the  Habsburgs.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
are  very  impressionable  in  all  matters  concerning  their 
personal  comforts,  and  allow  themselves  most  easily  to 
take  their  wishes  for  granted,  without  remembering  that 
very  often  these  turn  out  to  be  self-sown  curses. 

At  the  present  moment  the  Austrians  live  in  perfect 
security  as  to  the  future.  They  differ  in  this  from  the 
Germans,  who  already  begin  to  realise  that  this  war,  for 
which  they  had  prepared  themselves  with  such  persever- 
ance, is  assuming  a  most  threatening  aspect.  The 
Austrians  do  not  see  the  little  black  clouds  now  gathering 
on  the  horizon,  and  it  is  pretty  certain  that  when  the 
storm  breaks  it  will  find  them  quite  unprepared  to  stand 
its  fury,  with  no  one  to  explain  to  them  what  they  ought 

216 


The  Great  Disillusionment 

to  do,  nor  the  reasons  that  have  brought  about  the 
catastrophe.  If  the  AlUes  succeed  in  beating  the  Austro- 
Prussian  confederation,  they  will  find  that  Germany  will 
set  her  teeth  together,  suffer  in  silence,  and  prepare  for 
revenge,  but  that  Austria,  on  the  contrary,  will  immedi- 
ately fall  to  pieces. 

This  is  the  great  disillusionment  that  the  future  has 
in  store.  To  say  that  it  has  not  been  deserved  would  be 
untrue.  The  misfortunes  of  Austria  are  entirely  the  fault 
of  those  who  have  led  her  politics  for  the  last  forty  years, 
and  given  to  them  such  a  false  direction.  Metternich 
and  Prince  Schwarzenberg  saw  clearly  through  Prussian 
ambition,  and  all  the  time  they  remained  in  office  worked 
towards  the  annihilation  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Hohen- 
zollerns,  and  humiliated  them  at  Olmiitz  in  a  way  they 
had  never  known  before.  Had  they  lived  longer  we  may 
not  have  had  to  mourn  the  disaster  of  Sedan  or  the 
horrors  of  the  present  war.  What  Prince  Schwarzenberg 
had  been  aiming  at  was  to  throw  Prussia  out  of  the 
German  Confederation,  or  at  least  to  annul  her  means  of 
resistance,  to  paralyse  her  movements,  and  to  reduce  her 
to  the  condition  of  other  small  German  States,  like 
Saxony  or  the  dukedoms  of  Baden  and  Hesse.  This  had 
been  the  labour  of  his  whole  hfe,  and  he  very  nearly 
accompKshed  the  vast  designs  he  had  been  nursing  in  that 
direction  when  he  compelled  Prussia  to  subscribe  to  the 
Olmiitz  Convention  that  settled  for  ever,  as  he  and  others 
with  him  believed,  the  preponderance  of  Austria  over  the 

whole  of  Germany. 

217 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

After  Prince  Schwarzenberg  came  disorder,  inaction, 
foolishness,  incapacity,  and  the  destruction  of  his  great 
political  ideal — the  fixed  resolution  to  maintain  the  dignity 
of  Austria,  and  to  prevent  any  encroachment  of  Prussia 
on  its  prerogatives  as  leader  of  the  German  Confederation. 

Prince  Felix  Schwarzenberg  was  a  great  Minister,  but 
he  never  possessed  the  confidence  of  his  Sovereign. 
Francis  Joseph  was  obhged  to  bear  with  him,  but  he 
neither  liked  nor  trusted  him.  After  him  another  great 
one  arose  in  Germany,  but,  unfortunately  for  the  peace 
of  the  world,  he  was  born  in  Prussia.  The  Prince  had 
seen  clearly  what  the  future  held  in  store  for  Germany, 
and  indeed  for  the  whole  of  Europe,  unless  the  Prussian 
monster  was  crushed. 

But,  unfortunately,  Schwarzenberg  alone  had  seen. 

After  his  death  his  warnings  were  disregarded,  because 

they  implied  dissatisfaction  with  the  views  of  those  who 

came  after  him,   and  especially  of  the  Emperor,   who 

had  never  approved  the  line  of  policy  followed  by  his 

Minister.    Francis  Joseph  failed  to  see  the  danger  which 

Schwarzenberg  had  repeatedly  urged  him  to  notice.    He 

picked  a  quarrel  with  Italy  that  resulted  in  the  war  of 

1859,  which  ended  so  disastrously  for  him  and  for  his 

arms.     Then  he  continued  on  terms  of  hostility  with 

France,  which  lasted  all  through  the  life  of  the  Second 

Empire,  and  which  made  him  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the 

entreaties  of  some  people  who  begged  him  to  enter  the 

field  in  her  favour  in  1870,  an  event  which,  if  it  had  only 

taken  place,  would  have  considerably  changed  the  whole 

218 


The  Hand  of  Bismarck 

course  of  European  polities.  He  saw  nothing,  noticed 
nothing,  beyond  the  gratification  of  his  own  petty  spites 
and  revengeful  feelings  ;  and,  in  his  rage  at  the  loss  of  the 
battle  of  Solferino,  he  overlooked  the  disaster  which  was 
bound  to  overtake  him  and  his  Monarchy  by  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  policy  to  which  Prince  Schwarzenberg  had 
clung  with  such  perseverance  and  obstinacy. 

Other  people,  however,  did  not  forget  it,  and  Prussia 
was  to  keep  its  remembrance  always  before  her  eyes. 
With  a  perfidy  of  which  Prince  Bismarck  alone  was 
capable,  she  stretched  her  hand  to  Austria,  after  having 
defeated  her  at  Sadowa,  and  so  destroying  all  the  work  of 
Prince  Schwarzenberg.  And,  belonging  to  the  race  of 
people  who  never  forget  an  injury,  and  avenge  it  even 
after  many  years,  she  lured  Austria  on  to  her  destruction 
with  a  smiling  face  and  words  of  affection  on  her  lips.  A 
cleverer  man  than  Francis  Joseph  might  have  been  taken 
in  by  these  false  protestations.  A  vain  and  presumptuous 
one  like  he  has  been  all  through  his  life  and  career  was 
hopelessly  deceived. 

When  Francis  Joseph  ascended  the  throne  as  a  young 
man,  he  might  have  done  much  good  had  he  only 
possessed  a  small,  infinitely  small,  portion  of  what  is  called 
a  heart,  and  if  he  had  not  been  imbued  with  the  feeling 
of  his  own  importance  and  of  the  inferiority  of  the  whole 
world  in  regard  to  his  person.  As  it  was,  his  whole  career 
has  proved  to  be  one  of  selfishness  and  of  disdain  for  the 
miseries  and  the  sufferings  of  his  subjects. 

To  his  immediate  family  the  Emperor  proved  a  tyrant. 

219 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

He  had  a  wife  who  was  everything  that  was  lovely  and 
fair,  but  he  made  her  life  a  hell,  and  then  wept  at  her 
death  w^ithout  having  had  the  grace  to  go  and  look  for 
the  last  time  on  her  mortal  remains.  He  had  a  son  whom 
he  almost  goaded  into  an  act  of  madness.  He  had  a 
nephew  whom  he  disliked,  and  to  w^hom  he  did  not  have 
the  decency  to  award  a  respectable  grave.  He  had  rela- 
tives to  whom  he  show^ed  himself,  in  turn,  cruel  and 
despotic,  whom  he  either  relegated  into  exile  like  his 
brother,  or  deprived  of  their  name  and  status  in  the  world 
like  the  unfortunate  Crown  Princess  of  Saxony.  He  had 
friends  whom  he  betrayed ;  Ministers  to  whom  he  did  not 
tell  the  truth ;  mistresses  whom  he  forsook ;  an  army 
about  which  he  did  not  care,  though  expecting  it  to  do 
its  duty ;  subjects  whom  he  oppressed ;  allies  whom  he 
hoped  he  might  forsake. 

When  one  thinks  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
wives,  mothers,  orphaned  children  who  weep  over  the 
loss  of  their  dear  ones,  for  whose  death  Francis  Joseph 
is  directly  responsible,  one  can  but  hope  that  the  great 
disillusion  will  come  while  the  old  Emperor  is  still  alive, 
and  that  ere  he  dies  he  will  recognise  the  evil  he  has 
brought  to  a  world  which  he  did  not  hesitate,  w^hen 
standing  himself  on  the  brink  of  his  grave,  to  plunge 
into  an  ocean  of  suffering,  distress,  and  pain. 


220 


CHAPTER   XV 

A  bird's-eye  view 

I  HAVE  come  to  the  end  of  my  task.  Perhaps  some 
of  my  readers  will  find  that  I  have  been  hard  on  the 
people  whom  I  have  attempted  to  describe,  that  I  have 
not  judged  them  fairly  or  impartially.  To  that  reproach 
I  shall  reply  that  I  never  meant  to  be  indulgent.  I  fully 
meant  to  make  this  book  a  record  of  the  iniquities  and 
of  the  recklessness  and  foolishness  of  an  ignorant  and 
unprincipled  nation  that,  by  its  hypocrisy,  has  brought 
terrible  misfortune  on  the  world.  At  the  same  time, 
though  I  have  excused  nothing,  I  do  not  think  that  I 
have  denied  any  of  the  few  virtues  which  I  have  observed. 

Severe  though  I  may  seem,  I  am  the  first  to  recog- 
nise that  the  Austrians,  had  they  only  been  properly 
governed  and  instructed,  might  have  proved  to  be 
sympathetic  people,  inoffensive  in  their  actions  and  in 
their  manners.  Unfortunately  for  them  and  for  their 
reputation  in  history,  they  have  had  the  misfortune  to  be 
ruled  by  a  degenerate  dynasty,  which  never  looked  beyond 
its  personal  advantages,  and  never  once  gave  its  subjects 
the  example  of  fidehty  to  a  given  word  or  of  gratitude 
for  a  rendered  service. 

The  sense  of  self-importance  which  always  pervaded 

221 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

the  Habsburgs  has  weighed  heavily  over  Austria,  and  has 

been  the  cause  of  its  moral  downfall,  as  well  as  of  the 

numerous  material  disasters  that  have  overtaken  it  in 

the  past.\   When  King  John  Sobieski  of  Poland  delivered 

besieged  TTenna,    and  drove   away   from   its   walls  the 

Turkish   troops    commanded    by    Kara    Mustapha,    the 

Emperor   Leopold   did   not   even   find   it   necessary    to 

thank  him  for  having  saved  him,  and  forbade  the  clergy 

to  receive  him  with  any  pomp  or  ceremony  when  he 

entered  the  cathedral  of  St.  Stephen  for  the  first  time ; 

he  did  not  find  a  single  priest  to  officiate  at  the  service 

of  thanksgiving  he  had  wished  to  have  celebrated.     The 

Polish  hero  himself  started  singing  the  Te  Deum,  the 

words  of  which  his  soldiers  took  up  after  him,  until  at 

last  a  French  monk,  who  happened  to  be  among  those 

present,  mounted  the  pulpit  and  addressed  a  few  words 

to  the  assembled  multitude,  which  he  began  by  the  verse 

of  the  Gospel :  "  There  was  a  man  sent  from  God  whose 

name  was  John."    For  this  the  monk  was  the  very  next 

day  ordered  to  leave  Vienna  by  the  Emperor. 

The  latter  at  last  received  Sobieski  in  solemn  audience, 

after  long  negotiations  regarding  the  ceremonial,  Spanish 

etiquette  not  admitting  that  an  elective  monarch  should 

be  granted  the  same  honours  as  an  hereditary  one.    When 

the  King  was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  Leopold,  the 

latter  did  not  even  get  up  from  his  arm-chair,  and  the 

only  words  which  he  found  to  say  were  that  "  he  felt  sorry 

not  to  have  been  able  to  see  him  before,"  to  which  the 

Polish  hero  replied,  not  without  malice,  that  "  he  re- 

222 


Repeated  History 

gretted  the  service  he  had  been  happy  to  render  to  him 
had  been  such  a  small  one." 

The  incident  is  historic.  Leopold  had  nearly  seen  his 
capital  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Moslems ;  they  had 
driven  him  from  a  considerable  portion  of  his  dominions ; 
he  had  lost  the  best  part  of  Hungary,  which  had  joined 
the  invaders,  and  yet  when,  through  an  unexpected  piece 
of  luck,  help  on  which  he  had  absolutely  no  right  to  count 
had  been  sent  to  him,  and  the  Turks  had  been  routed  so 
completely  that  they  had  had  to  fly,  abandoning  all  their 
treasures,  the  Emperor  did  not  find  a  single  word  of 
thanks  for  his  deliverer,  but  began  to  put  forward 
miserable  questions  of  etiquette.  Can  one  wonder  that 
Sobieski,  disgusted,  turned  his  back  on  Vienna  and  on 
its  Sovereign,  and  expressed  to  his  friends  his  surprise  at 
this  extraordinary  treatment? 

This  incident  shows  how  the  Habsburgs  all  through 
their  history  have  been  the  same  as  they  are  to-day,  that 
amidst  their  greatest  trials,  as  well  as  during  their  most 
glorious  days,  they  have  ever  allowed  petty  subjects  to 
engross  their  minds,  and  have  put  before  ever>i;hing  else 
the  homage  which  they  considered  to  be  due  to  them  and 
to  their  exalted  position.  Gratitude  has  been  unknown 
to  them,  simply  because  they  firmly  believed  that  all  the 
good  that  came  to  them  was  nothing  but  what  they  had 
the  right  to  expect,  and  for  w^hich  they  need  not  return 
any  thanks. 

It  is  probable  that  if  the  present  Austrian  Emperor 
fell  from  a  window  of  the  Hofburg  he  would,  instead  of 

223 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

rewarding,  punish  the  man  who  hfted  him  up  if  the 
latter  did  not  possess  quarterings  entithng  him  to  lay 
hands  on  the  sacred  person  of  his  Sovereign. 

That  this  state  of  things  should  leave  its  impress  on 
the  nation  is  but  natural. 

Austria,  apathetic  and  without  initiative,  has  held  in 
fatuous  respect  the  grandeur  of  her  ruling  House,  and 
has  been  blind  to  her  own  material  interests,  has  delighted 
in  her  ignorance,  in  her  want  of  experience,  in  her  faculty 
for  seeing  everything  to  do  with  her  existence  as  a  nation 
through  rose-coloured  spectacles.  She  has  never  even 
imagined  that  there  might  exist  about  her,  as  about 
everything  else  in  this  world,  sordid  and  ugly  sides  which 
ought  to  be  suppressed  so  far  as  it  was  in  human  power 
to  do  so.  She  has  been  politically,  intellectually,  morally 
and  physically  pharasaical.  Her  joy  at  her  own  perfection 
has  been  such  that  she  has  forgotten  that  others  might 
not  see  her  in  the  same  light. 

This  circumstance  explains  why  in  later  years  Austrian 

statesmen    have    been    so    inferior,  and    why    Austrian 

political  men  have  found  it  so  difficult,  when  they  did  not 

belong  by  birth  to  the  higher  classes  of  Society,  to  make 

their  voices  heard.     Lately  the  middle  classes  have  come 

to  the  front  rather  prominently,  and  have  tried  to  push 

themselves  forward  to  the  detriment  of  the  old  owners 

of  the  soil.     In  any  other  country  their  entering  into 

the  lists  might  have  disturbed  its  equanimity ;  in  Austria 

it  has  not  been  able  to  influence  the  course  of  events,  nor 

to  change  anything  of  the  general  spirit  which  prevails 

224 


The  Dark  Future 

in  those  circles  which  alone  hold  in  their  hands  the  keys 
to  the  political  situation.  As  a  people  they  have  learnt 
nothing,  seen  nothing,  and  failed  to  appreciate  the  gravity 
of  the  events  taking  place  under  their  own  eyes.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  their  end  is  but  a  question  of  time,  and 
that  not  far  distant. 

As  to  what  this  end  will  be  I  have  already  prophesied. 
One  thing  is  very  certain — there  can  be  no  peace  in 
Europe  so  long  as  Austria  is  allowed  to  go  on  existing 
under  the  conditions  which  have  ruled  of  recent  years. 
It  is  time  that  this  tool  in  the  hands  of  her  powerful 
German  neighbour  should  be  denied  the  possibility  of 
serving  as  an  excuse  for  the  latter's  misdeeds.  We  have 
had  enough  intrigues;  it  is  time  that  peace  should  be 
restored  to  the  world,  and  this  can  never  be  so  long  as 
Austria  is  not  rendered  harmless.  And  the  only  way  in 
which  she  can  be  made  harmless  is  to  rid  her  of  an  excuse 
for  disturbing  the  world  by  any  of  the  vagaries  inspired 
in  her  by  others  or  simply  by  her  own  want  of  intelli- 
gence and  of  common  sense,  by  reducing  her  to  the 
condition  of  a  secondary  State. 

Who  can  deny  that  we  should  not  have  been  plunged 
in  the  misfortune  of  the  present  war  if  Europe  had  been 
wise,  and  prevented  the  incorporation  of  Bosnia  and  of 
Herzegovina  into  the  Austrian  Empire?  Further,  there 
are  Poland,  Bohemia,  Transylvania,  Croatia,  Dalmatia, 
Tyrol,  Trieste,  all  eager  to  be  delivered  from  her  rule, 
and  who,  so  long  as  they  remain  in  her  dependence,  will 
furnish  her  with  pretexts  for  making  mischief  in  the 
p  225 


The  Austrian  Court  from  Within 

world.  The  dismemberment  of  Austria  is  as  necessary 
as  the  destruction  of  Prussian  miUtarism. 

The  Habsburgs  have  had  their  day,  and  they  will  sink 
into  obscurity,  and  Austria  herself  will  have  to  expiate 
the  want  of  moral  backbone  that  has  been  one  of  her 
worst  defects.  Her  government  will  have  to  be  modified, 
her  middle  classes  called  to  take  up  their  share  of  the 
burden ;  her  aristocracy  will  have  to  give  up  its  former 
prejudices  and  renounce  many  of  its  standing  privileges ; 
her  clergy  must  restrict  their  action  and  influence  to  the 
limits  beyond  which  interference  becomes  a  peril  for  the 
State ;  and  the  instruction  of  her  population  will  have  to 
be  considerably  improved  and  widened. 

The  war  will  bring  about  many  changes  in  poor  bleed- 
ing Europe ;  it  will  destroy  many  things  she  reverenced, 
and  will  set  up  new  beliefs  in  place  of  the  old  ones.  What 
these  changes  and  these  beliefs  will  be  it  is  impossible 
now  to  foresee,  but  it  will  certainly  be  possible  for  us 
then  to  write  at  the  end  of  one  great  chapter  in  the  book 
of.  history  the  words.  Finis  Austria. 


226 


INDEX 


Adelgonda  of  Bavaria,  Princess,  76 
Aerenthal,    Count,    72,    73,    101,    150, 
202-3 
and  Prince  Alfred  Montcnuovo,  91 
his  successor,  83 

quarrels  with  Francis  Ferdinand,  82 
Albert,  Archduke,  69 

death  of,  174 
Albert  of  Saxonj-,  King,  96 
and  the  Triple  Alliance,  97 
as  peacemaker,  96 
death  of,  99 

grudge  against  Russia,  98 
influence  of,  97 

Prince  von  Montenuovo  and,  98 
Albrecht,  Professor  Paul,  183-7 
Alexander  11.  of  Russia  and  the  war 

of  1866,  98 
Alphonso  XIII.,  King  of  Spain,  174 
Andrassy,  Count,  74,  202 

and  the  Triple  Alliance,  30,  147-8 
condemned  to  death,  146 
inaugurates  Austro-German  alliance, 
147 
Apponyi,  Count,  149,  152 
Austria,  a  satellite  of  Prussia,  143 
and  the  Crimean  "War,  98 
and    the    Separatist    movement    in 

Galicia,  166 
annexes    Bosnia    and    Herzegovina* 

73,  75,  82,  203,  225 
army  of,  201 
clergy  of,  188-200 

dismemberment  of,  a  necessity,  226 
eclipse  of  its  army,  207 
fate  of,  209,  225 
Germany  and,  31,  205 
hatred  of  Russia,  150 
Heir-apparent  of,  65,  85 
Hungarian  diplomats  in,  149-150 
Hungarian  domination  in,  148-9 


Austria,  Imperial  family,  48-71 
intermarriage  in,  131 
pliable  population  of,  214 
politics  in,  135,  136 
priesthood  of,  194 
religious  papers  in,  192 
Roman  Catholicism  in,  16 
Ruthenians  and,  165 
ultimatum  to  Servia,  31,  197,  206 
vetoes    election    of    Cardinal    Ram- 

polla  as  Pope,  188 
want  of  progress  in,  213 
war  with  Italy,  218 
Austrian  aristocracy,  the  exclusiveness 

of,  131 
aristocracy,  principal  occupation,  132 
armj',  complete  failure  of,  214 
army,  German  officers  in  command* 

204,  207,  208 
Court,  archaic  distinctions,  137,  151, 

152  ;    etiquette  of,  27,  28,  33,  36, 

42,  145 
Empire,    different    nationalities    in, 

159 
German  Ambassadors  at,  100-1 
iron  etiquette  of,  27,  28,  33,  36,  42 
military  officers,  215 
Austrians,  excessive  vanity  of,  216 
temperament  of,  213 
unpleasant  manners  of,  134 


Baden,  217 

Balkan  crisis,  Francis  Ferdinand's  atti- 
tude, 73 

Batthyany,  Count  Louis,  suicide  of,  18 

Batthyany,  Countess,  18 

Bavaria,  Archduchess  Sophy  in.  (See 
Sophy,  Empress) 

Bavaria,  Prince  George  of,  176  et  seq. 

Bavaria,  Princess  Adelgonda  of,  76 

227 


Index 


Berchtold,  Count,  101,  136,  153,  197, 
206,  209 
marriage  of,  153 
resignation  of,  154 
succeeds  Aerenthal,  83 
Berchtold,  Countess,  83 
Bismarck,  30,  219 
a    long-cherislied     dream     realised, 

201 
and  tlie  Triple  Alliance,  30,  31,  97, 
99,  148,  202 
Bohemia,  209,  225 
and  Russia,  169,  170 
Czechs  and,  167 
future  of,  171 

German  landowners  in,  167,  168 
German  tyranny  in,  171 
Bosnia,  159,  209 

annexation  of,  73,  75,  82,  203,  225 
Roman  Catholicism  in,  196 
Bourbon  Parma,  Princess  Zita  of,  65 
Bourbon    Sicily,    Princess   of,    marries 

Archduke  Charles  Louis,  58 
Budapest    and    international    politics, 
149 
coronation  anniversary,  44 
scenes  following  Hungarian  rebellion, 

17 
society  in,  155 
Bukowina,  159,  166 
Bulgaria,  163 

the  Church  of,  196 
Burg,  Ferdinand,  63 
Burian,  Baron,  154 


Cairo,  Marie  Vetsera  at,  119 
Caroline   of   Wasa,    Princess,    marries 

Albert  of  Saxony,  96 
Cavriani,  Count,  59 
Charles  Louis,  Archduke,  57 

death  of,  58 

his  three  marriages,  57 
Charles  Stephen,  Archduke,  161 

morganatic  marriage  of  his  daughter, 
186 
Charlotte  of  Belgium,  Princess,  50,  56 

becomes  Queen  of  Mexico,  54 
Chernigov,  164 
Chotek,  Count  and  Countess,  77,  78 


Chotek,  Countess  (sister  of  Duchess  of 
Hohenberg),  marries  Baron  Wuth- 
enau,  191 
Chotek,  Countess  Sophy,  59 

funeral  of,  61 

Lady-in-Waiting    to    Archduchess 
Isabella,  77 

Marie  Th^r^se  and,  59,  60 

marriage  of,  60,  176 

murder  of,  58,  61,  72 

(See  also  Hohenberg,  Duchess  of) 
Choteks,  the,  168 

Clam-Gallas,  Countess  Clotilde,  141 
Clarys,  the,  168 

Clementine  of  Coburg,  Princess,  196 
Clergy,  Austrian,  aspirations  of,  199 
Clerical  party,  the,  68 
Convent  of  Noble  Ladies,  Prague,  64, 

65 
Corfu,  the  Kaiser's  holiday  at,  84 
Cracow,  161 

the  Archbishop  of,  190 
Crimean  War,  Austria  and,  98 
Croatia,  159,  209,  225 
Croy,  Princess  Isabella  of,  69,  173 

marries  Archduke  Frederick,  69,  137 
Cumberland,  Duke  and  Duchess  of,  138 
Czartoryski,  Prince,  161,  164 
Czechs,  the,  159,  167-72 

their  ambitions  and  aspirations,  167, 
170 


D'Alenqon,  Duchess,  45 

Dalmatia,  225 

Dnieper,  the,  164 

Dual  Monarchy,  the,  146,  149,  150,  211 


Elie  of  Parma,  Prince,  176 
Elisabeth,    Archduchess    (daughter   of 

Crown  Prince  Rudolph),  71 
Elisabeth,    Archduchess    (daughter   of 

Marie  Valerie),  70 
Elisabeth,  Empress,  23,  32 

and  her  son,  125 

as  diplomat,  42 

assassination  of,  32,  95,  96,  108 

at  Miramar,  51,  56 

betrothal  of,  24 


228 


Index 


Elisabeth,  Empress,  coronation,  152 

desire  for  solitudo,  28,  4-1 

domestic  scenes,  35 

etiquette  of  Austrian  Court,  27,  28, 
33,  36,  42,  145 

failing  health  of,  45 

final  breach  with  her  husband,  29 

friendship     with     Archduke     Maxi- 
milian, 36,  50,  51 

funeral  of,  46,  47,  220 

her  children,  29,  33,  36,  37,  38 

her  "  Recollections,"  40 

ill-health  of,  37 

interference    of    her    mother-in-law, 
26-8,  34-5,  103 

last  hours  of,  45 

last  public  appearances  of,  44 

love  of  travel,  45 

marriage  of,  26 

mournful  vigil  of,  129 

persistent  misunderstanding  of,  36 

popularity  with  Hungarians,  35,  42, 
145 

public  entry  into  Vienna,  25 

unhappy  married  life  of,  33, 103,  104, 
220 

visits  Frau  Schratt,  106 
Elisabeth  Anielie,   Archduchess,   mar- 
riage of,  66 
ErdSdy,  Countess,  151 
Esterhazy,  Princess  Eugenie,  174 
Eulenburg,  Prince,  100 
Euxinograd,  92 


Falkenhayn,  207 
Ferdinand  I.,  abdication  of,  15 

characteristics  of,  2 

death  of,  15 

his  religious  tendencies,  3,  4 

marriage,  2 

parentage,  2 

question  of  his  abdication,  3,  4,  10, 
11,  13-15 
Ferdinand  Charles,  Archduke,  62 

a  romance  and  a  morganatic  mar- 
riage, 63-4 

death  of,  64 

Marie  Tli^rdse  and,  63,  64 

renounces  titles  and  rank,  63 


Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria,  King,  91,  92 
Ferdinand  of  Coburg,  196 
Festetics,  Princess,  142 
Forg^ch,  Baron,  210 
France,  the  war  of  1870,  202 

war  of  1859,  29 
Francis  II.,  Einporor,  his  sons,  1,  6 
Francis  Charles,  Archduke,  4,  10 

his  sons,  7 

marriage  of,  6 

renounces  right  of  succession,  15 
Francis  Ferdinand,  Archduke,  57,  58, 
59,  175 

and  Count  Aercnthal,  72,  73,  75,  82 

assassination  of,  58,  61,  72,  85,  152 

Francis  Joseph  and,  79 

funeral  of,  61,  94 

guest  of  William  II.  at  Potsdam,  81 

his  stepmother's  favourite,  61 

marriage  of,  59,  60,  75,  76,  176 

Prince  von  Montenuovo  and,  92 

quarrels  with  Aerenthal,  82 

renounces  his  rights  of  succession,  76 

reorganises  Austrian  army,  72-3 

reputed  meanness  of,  76 

the  affairs  of,  72-86 

visits  King  George  at  Windsor,  81 
Francis  Joseph,  Emperor,  affection  for 
Archduchess  Frederick,    181 

and  the  Hungarian  rebellion,  17-18, 
150 

and  the  Triple  Alliance,  30 

as  archduke  and  emperor,   1-31 

ascends  the  throne,  15 

attempted  assassination  of,  20 

becomes  King  of  Hungary,  18,  145, 
150 

brutality  of,  55 

character  sketch  of,  16-17,  19-20 

coronation,  152 

Count  Louis  Batthyany  and,  18 

Czechs  and,  171 

dislike  of  Schwarzenberg,  218 

engagement  of,  24 

enmity    towards    Archduke     Maxi- 
milian, 30,  36,  50,  52 

exiles  the  Archduke  Otto,  67 

family  life  of,  30 

fickleness  of,  103-4 

Francis  Ferdinand  and,  79 


229 


Index 


Francis  Joseph,  Emperor,  Frau  Schratt 
and,  105  el  seq. 

"  grief  "  at  his  brother's  murder,  56 

hatred  of  Russia,  30,  73 

his  brothers,  49 

his  cousins,  23 

Hungarian  domination,  149 

intervenes  in  Papal  election,  188  et 
seq. 

last  meeting  with  Archduke  Maxi- 
milian, 54 

liaisons  of,  22,  28,  33,  49,  70,  102  el 
seq. 

marriage  of,  26,  103 

message  to  Nicholas  I.,  18-19 

personal  friends  of,  87-101 

popularity  of,  9 

private  valet  of,  104 

quarrels  with  Archduke  Maximilian, 
51 

reconciliation  of  Hungary  with,  42, 
146 

refuses  consent  to  marriage  of  Arch- 
duchess Isabella,  187 

religious  tendencies  of,  190-1 

reprisals  against  Hungary,  17,  19-20 

serious  illness  of,  84 

tragic  end  of  his  only  son,  30,  43, 
116-130 

visits  Italy,  50 

visits  the  Riviera,  45 

William  II.  and,  99-100 
Frederick,  Archduke,  69,  137,  173 

goes  to  the  front,  183 

marries  Princess  Isabella  of  Croy,  69 
Frederick,    Archduchess    (Isabella    of 

Croy),  and  her  daughter,  181 
FremdenblnlL  tho,  192 


G\LiciA,  160,  209 
a   separatist    Ruthenian    movement 

in,  166 
anti-Russian  agitation  in,  160 
Austria  and,  162 
Austrian  persecution  in,  166 
enemy  successes  in,  208 
its  future,  166 

Russian  occupation  of,  164,  214 
Ruthenians  in,  164 


George  V.,  King,  receives  Francis  Fer- 
dinand at  Windsor,  81 
George  of  Bavaria,  Prince,  a  favourite 
with  Francis  Joseph,  177 
his  wife  obtains  divorce,  180 
marries  Isabella  (daughter  of  Arch- 
duke Frederick),  176,  177 
shady  reputation  of,  176 
George  of  Waldbourg,  Count,  70 
Georgey,  leader  of  Hungarian  rebellion, 

17 
German  Confederation,  the  Habsburgs 

and,  29 
Germany   aids   Austria   in   the   Great 
War,  31 
and  Austria,  205 
and  the  Great  War,  31,  85 
preparedness  for  war,  31,  85,  204 
the  General  Staff,  203,  204 
Giesl,  Baron,  210 

Gisela,  Archduchess,  176,  177,  1/8,  179 
Godfrey  of  Hohenlohe  Schillingsfurst, 

Prince,  176 
GSdollo,  42,  145 
Goluchowski,  Count,  74 
Great  War,  the,  Austria  and,  31 

Germany's  preparations,  31,  85,  204 

outbreak  of,  152 

the  clergy  and,  195-200 


Habsburg  dynasty,  1,  6,  9,  14,  21,  22, 

27,  29,  32,  48 
Habsburgs,  the,  degeneracy  of,  4,  16 

Poles  and,  159,  161,  162 

their  probable  fall,  154 
Haymerle,  Baron  von,  74 
H616ne,  Princess,  23 

frank  speech  with  Francis  Joseoli,  23 
Herzegovina,  159,  209 

annexation  of,  73,  75,  82,  203,  225 

Roman  Catholicism  in,  196j 
Hesse,  217 

Hietzing,  Frau  Schratt's  Nllla  at,  108 
Hindenburg,"i207 
Hirsch,  Baron,  140 
Hohenberg,  Duchess  of,  57,  79,  168 

a  guest  at  Windsor,  81 

a  league  against,  175 

and  the  Clerical  party,  81 

230 


Index 


Hotieobcrg,      Duchess     of,     awarded 
special  rank,  93 

Frau  Schratt  and,  110 

funeral  of,  94 

invited  by  William  II.  to  Potsdam,  81 

snubbed  by  Prince  Montenuovo,  93 

William  II.  and,  80 

{See  also  Chotek,  Countess  Sophy) 
Hohenlohc  Schillingsfiirst,  Prince  God- 
frey of,  176 
Holstein,  Herr  von,  203 
Hungarian  rebellion,  the,   17-18,  118, 
145,  150 

society,  characteristics  of,  157 
Hungarians,     the,     and     Archduchess 
Isabella,    174 

Empress  Elisabeth  and,  35,  42,  145, 

Francis  Joseph  and,  17-18, 150 
Hungary,  209 

and  the  Great  War,  152 

coronation  of  queens  of,  65 

Czechs  in,  159 

development  of,  and  the  result,  148-9 

German  population  in,  159 

hatred  of  Russia,  150,  152,  155 

her  ambitions,  155 

King  of,  18,|145 

Poles  in,  159 

political  men  and  social  life,  145-58 

reconciliation  with  Francis  Joseph, 
42,  146 

Slavs  in,  159 

supremacy  of,  in  Austrian  politics,  136 

the  clergy  and,  200 

William  II.  and,  205 

women  of,  156 


Irmg\rd,  Sister.     (See  Isabella,  Arch- 
duchess,   daughter    of    Archduke 
Frederick) 
Isabella,    Archduchess    (daughter    of 
Archduke  Frederick),  176 
a  battlefield  romance,  183 
as  Red  Cross  nurse,  176,  182 
her  marriage  annulled,  180 
leaves  her  husband,  177  et  seq. 
marries   Prince  George  of  Bavaria, 

176 
volunteers  as  nurse  for  the  front,  183 


Isabella,  Archduchess  (wife  of  Arch- 
duke Frederick),  and  Countess 
Sophy  Chotek,  60,  75 

children  of,  175 

her  influence  in  Imperial  Family,  175 

Hungarians  and,  174 

marriage,  69,  137,  173 
Isabella  of  Croy,  Princess,  173 

marries  Archduke  Frederick,  69,  137 
Italian  war  of  1848,  the,  12 
Italy,  war  with  Austria,  218 
Ischl,  a  royal  engagement  at,  23,  24 

Frau  Schratt's  cottage,  108 
Izvolsky,  M.,  101 


Jesuits,  the,  68,  73,  114, 117,  133, 194, 
196 

Joseph  Ferdinand  of  Tuscany,  Arch- 
duke, 69 

Juarez  and  the  King  of  Mexico,  55,  56 


Karl  Franz  Joseph,  Archduke,  61,  76, 

80,  155 
Karolyi,  Count  Aloys,  83,  151 
Karolyi,  Countess,  151 
Kiev,  164 

Kinsky,  Countess,  wedding  of,  94 
Kleisheim,  castle  of,  88 
Kloss,  Herr  von,  186 
Konopischt,  Marie  Th6rdse  visits,  61 
self-invited  visit  of  William  II.,  84 
Kusmanek,  207 


Lanckoronski,  Count,  138 
Larisch,  Countess,  112 
Leo  XIII.,  Pope,  death  of,  188 
Leopold    I.,    King,    marriage    of    his 

daughter,  50 
Leopold,  Emperor,  222 

and  Sobieski,  222-3 
Leopold,  Prince  in  Bavaria,  176 
Liechtenstein,  Prince,  66 
Lonyay,  Count,  57 
Lorj%   Princess.     {See  Schwarzenberg, 

Princess) 
Louis  Victor,  Archduke,  87,  88 

imprisoned  in  castle  of  Kleisheim,  88 


231 


Index 


Louise  in  Bavaria,  Duchess,  23 
Lubomirskis,  the,  164 
Luitpold,  Prince,  180 


Macchio,  Baron  dc,  210 
Mackensen,  207 

Madeira,  Empress  Elisabeth  at,  37 
Magyar  aristocracy,  the,  151 
Magyars,  the,  145,  150,  151,  156,  200 
Margaret  of  Saxony,  Princess,  marriage 

of,  58 
Marie,  Empress,  and  the  abdication  of 
Ferdinand  I.,  14-15 
austere  views  of,  2 
marries  Ferdinand  I.,  2 
religious  tendencies  of,  3,  6 
Marie    Anne,    Archduchess    (Princess 

Elie  of  Parma),  176 
Marie  Anne  of  Savoy,  Princess.     (See 

Marie,  Empress) 
Marie        Annonciade,        Archduchess 
(daughter  of  Marie  Ther^se),  ap- 
pointed Abbess,  64,  65 
Marie  Antoinette,  6 
Marie  Cliristine,  Archduchess,  175 
Marie  Christine  as  Abbess,  65 
Marie  Henrietta,  Archduchess,  176 
Marie  Josepha,  Archduchess,  58, 66,  174 
her  sons,  68 

influence  with  Francis  Joseph,  68 

separation  from  her  husband,  67 

Marie    Louise,    Empress,    morganatic 

marriage  of,  12,  89 
Marie  Th6r6se,  an  unfounded  report, 
59-60 
and  Francis  Joseph,  59 
Archduke    Ferdinand    Charles    and, 

63,  64 
enters  a  convent,  60 
her  daughters,  64-6 
influence  at  Court,  59,  60,  61 
interviews  Francis  Joseph,  180 
marriage  of,  58 
plain  speech  with  Francis  Joseph,  61, 

77 
shelters  her  niece,  180 
Marie  Valerie,  Archduchess,  44,  47,  70, 
174,  178 
and  Frau  Schratt,  109 


Marie   Valerie,  Archduchess,   installed 
at  Schonbrunn,  109 
Prince  von  Montenuovo  and,  89 
scenes  with  Francis  Joseph,  109 
Mary,    Queen    of    Great    Britain    and 

Ireland,  81 
Maximilian,  Archduke,  21,  36,  49 
a  quarrel  with  Francis  Joseph,  51 
accepts  throne  of  Mexico,  30,  51 
at  Milan,  30,  49 
death  of,  8,  9,  49,  54,  55 
Francis  Joseph's  jealousy  of,  30,  36 

50,  52 
his  friendship  with  Empress  Elisa- 
beth, 3^   50,  51 
last  meeting  with  Francis  Joseph,  54 
marriage  of,  50 

renounces  his  right  of  succession,  53 
54 
Mayerling,  the  tragedy  of,  30,  43,  116- 

130 
Mensdorll,  Count  Albert,  210 
Metternich,  Prince  von,  1,  3,  217 
Metternich,  Princess  Pauline,  140,  141 
and    Baron    Nathaniel    Rothschild, 
140-1 
Mexico,  Maximilian  accepts  throne,  30, 

51 
Miguel,  Dom,  58 

Milan,  Maximilian  viceroy  at,  30,  49 
Miramar,  50,  54,  56,  57,  84 
Empress  Elisabeth  at,  51,  56 
re-marriage  of  Crown  Princess  Ste- 
phanie at,  57 
Modena,  the  Duke  of,  his  will,  61,  76 
Montenuovo,  Count  William  von,  12, 
15,  89,  90 
as  go-between,  14 
heroic  deeds  of,  12 
his  sons,  15,  80,  87,  88  et  scq. 
royal  favours  for,  15,  90 
Montenuovo,  Prince  Alfred,  15 

a  schoolmate  of  Ferdinand  of  Bul- 
garia, 91 
Albert  of  Saxony  and,  98 
and  Count  Aerenthal,  91 
Archduchess  Marie  Valerie  and,  89 
dispatches  from   the   King  of  Bul- 
garia, 92 
Frau  Schratt  and,  106 


232 


Index 


Montenuovo,    Prince    Alfred,    funeral 
of  Sarajevo  victims,  93-94 
his  influence  with    Francis   Joseph, 

80,  87,  88,  89,  90,  91,  99 
marriage  of,  94 
Montenuovo,  Princess  von,  94 


Naples,  Queen  of,  45 

Napoleon,  re-marriage  of  his  widow,  12, 

89 
Neipperg,     Count,     marries     Empress 

Marie  Louise,  12 
Nicholas  I.,  Tsar,  and  the  Hungarian 

rebellion,  17-19 
Nicholas  II.,  Tsar,  visits  Vienna,  44 
"  Nini,"     Princess.     (See     Esterhazy, 

Princess  Eug6nie) 


Olmijtz  Convention,  the,  217 
Orth,  John,  117,  118 
Otto,  Archduke,  58 

death  of,  65 

exile  of,  67 

his  evil  reputation,  66,  67 
Otto  of  Windisch  Graetz,  Prince,  71 


Paar,  General  Count,  his  devotion  to 

Francis  Joseph,  88,  95,  96 
Paris,  Empress  Elisabeth  in,  45 
Pius  X.,  Pope,  election  of,  193 
Podolia,  160,  170 
Poland,  225 

ambitions  of,  161 

hatred  of  Russia,  162 

independence    of,    and    its    conse- 
quences, 163,  164 

priesthood  of,  195 
Poles,  the,  159,  160 

and  Galicia,  165 

and  the  Ruthenians,  165 
Poltava,  164 

Portuguese  Pretender,  the,  58 
Potocka,  Countess  Roman,  142 
Potockis,  the,  164 
Prague,  168,  169 
Przemysl,  fortress  of,  207 
Puzyna,  Cardinal,  190 


QuERETARO  tragedy,  the,  54 


Radziwill,  Prince,  161 
Radziwill,  Princess,  142 
Rampolla,  Cardinal,  189,  190 
Reichstadt  (Bohemia),  60 
Reichstadt,  the  Duke  of,  9,  13 
Revolution  of  1848,  the,  1  ei  seq. 
Riviera,  the.  Empress  Elisabeth  visits, 

45 
Roman  Church,  the,  and  mixed  mar- 
riages, 132,  191 
Rothschild,  Baron  Nathaniel,  140-1 

Princess  Metternich  and,  140-1 
Rudolph,  Crown  Prince,  30,  37 

author's  meeting  with,  121 

becomes  a  slave  to  drugs,  127 

culture  of,  122,  123 

funeral  of,  129 

his  daughter,  126 

his  mother,  125 

meets  Marie  Vetsera,  126 

tragic  death  of,  43,  116  et  seq. 
Russia,  Albert  of  Saxony  and,  98 

and  Bohemia,  169,  170 

Austrian  hatred  of,  30,  73 

Polish  attitude  towards,  162 

Prince  von  Montenuovo  and,  91,  92 
Ruthenians,  the,  164-6 

and  Galicia,  165 

religion  of,  165 

Russian  sympathies  of,  164 


Sadowa,  battle  of,  29,  30,  219 

Salm  Salm,  Prince  of,  175 

Salvator,  Archduke  Franz,  marriage  of, 

44 
Salvator,  Archduke  John,  117 
Sarajevo  tragedy,  the,  58,  61,  72,  85, 
93,  152 

funeral  of  the  victims,  94 
Savoy,  Princess  Marie  Anne  of.     (See 

Marie,  Empress) 
Saxony,  217 

and  Russia,  98 

Crown  Princess  of,  187,  220 
Schratt,  Frau  Catherine,  70,  90,  99,  102 

and  Prince  von  Montenuovo,  106 


233 


Index 


Schratt,  Frau  Catherine,  anecdote  con- 
cerning, 112 
Archduchess  Valerie  and,  109 
Duchess  of  Hohenberg  and,  110 
Empress  Elisabeth's  visit  to,  106 
establishes  a  private  hospital,  110 
Francis  Joseph  and,  102,  105  et  seq. 
hatred  of  Russia,  114 
her  royal  lover,  102,  105  et  seq. 
personality  of,  110 
Schwarzenberg,  Prince,  217,  218 
Schwarzenberg,    Princess   Lory,   11    et 
seq.,  141 
grudge  against  Empress  Marie  Anne, 
13 
Schwarzenbergs,  the,  168 
Sedan,  217 
Servia,  Austrian  ultimatum  to,  31, 197, 

206 
Silesia,  peasantry  of,  198 
Slavs,  Russian,  166 
Sobieski,  John,  King  of  Poland,  222-3 
Solferino,  battle  of,  219 
Sophy,    Archduchess    and    Archduke 
Maximilian,  21,  52,  54,  55 
and  the  abdication  of  Ferdinand  I., 

14-15 
anxiety  as  to  future   of  Habsburg 

dynasty,  22 
arranges  marriage  for  Francis  Joseph, 

22,  103 
criticises  her  daughter-in-law,  34 
death  of,  41 
diplomacy  of,  7 
her  sisters,  8 
her  sons,  7,  8,  9-11,  21  et  seq.,  52,  54, 

55 
influence  over  Francis  Joseph,  10 
marriage  of,  6 
personality  of,  10 

plain  speech  with  Francis  Joseph,  52 
represses  Empress  Elisabeth,  27 
strained     relations     with      Francis 

Joseph,   21 
the  Duke  of  Reichstadt  and,  9 
Stephanie,  Crown  Princess,  at  Miramar, 
56 
her  daughter,  126 

marries  Grown  Prince  Rudolph,  125 
re-marriage  of,  57 

234 


Stephanie,    Crown    Princess,    strained 

relations  with  her  husband,  126 
Szapary,  Count,  210 
Szecsen  de  Temerin,  Count,  210 

Tarnowski,  Count,  210 
Thuns,  the,  168 
Tisza,  Count,  149,  152,  154 
Transylvania,  225 
Trauttmansdorfl,  Princess  of,  138 
Trentino,  the,  209 
Trieste,  209,  225 

Triple  Alliance,  the,  30,  31,  97,  99, 148. 
202 

Francis  Joseph's  claim,  30 

submission  of  Austria  to,  97  et  seq. 
Tschirsky,  Herr  von,  100,  101,  154 

and  the  ultimatum  to  Servia,  206 
Tschuber,  Bertha,  63 
Tschuber,  Professor,  63,  64 
Turks,  defeat  of  the,  222 
Tuscany,  Archduke  Joseph   Ferdinand 

of,  68 
Tyrol,  the,  209,  225 

peasantry  of,  198 

Ukraine,  160,  164,  165 

Vatican,  the,  a  power  in  Austria,  188 
Vetsera,  Baron,  119 

death  of,  121 
Vetsera,  Marie,  117 

author's  meeting  with,  119 

burial  of,  130 

love  affairs  of,  121 

tragic  death  of,  129 
Vienna,  a  bet  and  its  sequel,  192-3 

acclaims  Princess  Elisabeth,  25 

attempted   assassination  of  Francis 
Joseph,    20 

Cardinal  Archbishop  of,  189 

Congress  of,  136 

cult  of  gossip  in,  133 

entertaining  in,  139 

financial  circles  in,  140 

Jews  and  financiers  of,  140 

present-day  social  life  in,  135 

prominent  Hungarians  in,  142 


Index 


Vienna,  public  entry  of  Empress  Elisa- 
beth, 25 

revolution  of  1848,  1 

siege  of,  222 

society  in,  131 

visit  of  Tsar  and  Tsaritza,  44 
Volhynia,  160,  170 


Waldbourg,  Count  George  of,  70 
Warsaw  captured  by  the  enemy,  208 
William  I.  of  Prussia,  King,  31 
William  II.,  Emperor,  and  the  Duchess 
of  Hohenberg,  80 
and  the  Catholic  clergy,  200 
Francis  Joseph  and,  99-100 


William  II.,  Emperor,  Francis  Joseph's 
opinion  of,  31 
funeral  of  Sarajevo  victims,  94 
Hungary  and,  205 
threat  of  separate  peace,  208 
visits  Francis  Ferdinand  at  Miramar, 
84 
Windisch  Graetz,  Prince  Otto  of,  71 
Windsor  Castle,  Francis  Ferdinand  and 

his  wife  at,  81 
Wuthenau,  Baron,  191 


Zamoyskis,  the,  164 
Zita  of  Bourbon  Parma,  Princess,  65, 
86 


235 


Printed  by 

Cassell  &  Company,  Limited,  La  Belle  Sauvage 

London,  E.G. 

F20.216 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 

T?n7DTD-URL 

MAR  2  2  1983 


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